Lennon and King Out, but Defoe a“maybe”as Spurs Prepare for Swansea

It's both good news and bad news for Tottenham Hotspur as the club prepares for their Saturday showdown with Swansea City.

A story posted on the official Spurs team website claims that both Aaron Lennon and Ledley King will miss out on Saturday's match against Swans. Lennon injured his hamstring in the club's 1-0 victory over Sunderland earlier in December, and it was originally reported that he would miss at least a few weeks, and possibly a month of action. The story on the Spurs website quotes manager Harry Redknapp as saying "(Lennon's) coming on well, working on his rehab, but he's not ready for Swansea."

Ledley King's longstanding knee issues have once again become a problem for Spurs as fall turns to winter. King couldn't play in last Tuesday's 2-0 victory over Norwich, and he isn't expected to be an option for Redknapp this weekend. Sebastien Bassong and Roman Pavlyuchenko are also expected to miss the match.

The Tottenham attack may be getting a shot in the arm before Saturday's kickoff. Jermain Defoe, who suffered a hamstring injury in the team's 4-0 victory over Shamrock back on December 15, may be able to take the pitch against Swans. It appears as if the striker will be a game-time decision. Redknapp spoke of Defoe's fitness, saying "he's trained with us today and we'll have to wait and see how he is." Defoe has also dealt with a bit of personal grief during the Christmas season. His cousin was stabbed and killed before the holiday break.

Spurs were impressive for roughly an hour of last Tuesday's game against Norwich despite missing mainstays such as King, Lennon and Defoe. Swans have given a few solid clubs difficult times this campaign, but even a makeshift Tottenham lineup matches up well with the bottom-of-the-table opponent. With that said, having Defoe back onto the field sooner rather than later would certainly be a benefit for a Spurs side trying to keep pace in the title chase with Manchester City and Manchester United. Tottenham have managed wins without Defoe, but the club's attack just hasn't had the same luster since Defoe's flat tire. The in-form Defoe was creating goals left and right on both Thursdays and Sundays over the past month or so before the injury, and his presence on the pitch make players such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart greater scoring threats. Still, Defoe shouldn't be a must for Spurs to beat Swans, so expect a "better safe than sorry" approach from Redknapp regarding the striker this weekend.