Sport

Tottenham star out for Christmas and New Year

12:57 pm on 24 December 2011

Tottenham Hotspur are likely to be without Rafael van der Vaart for the Christmas and New Year English Premier League football fixtures after the Dutchman injured his hamstring in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Friday.

Van der Vaart, who has scored six league goals this season, failed to return after half-time against Chelsea and manager Harry Redknapp said he would miss away games against Norwich City and Swansea City next week.

Tottenham, in third place, have mounting injury concerns going into a crucial period of the season with winger Aaron Lennon also sidelined by a hamstring injury and defender Younes Kaboul suffering a similar problem in the warm-up against Chelsea.

Striker Jermain Defoe, who missed the Chelsea game, is another with hamstring problems.