Spurs assistant manager Kevin Bond revealed that Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe remain as major doubts for Monday night’s clash with Liverpool. Both players have been struggling with hamstring injuries and while the timing of the game gives them an extra chance to recover, it looks as if both will miss out.

“Aaron and Jermain are being treated, both are extremely doubtful for Monday but obviously we’ll give them every chance,” Bond said.

“The medical staff are working hard to see if they can get them there.”

Kevin also revealed that Kyle Walker should be fine for the match and although Sky Sports intimated that Rafael van der Vaart would be OK for Monday, Bond wasn’t so sure.

“Rafa went off with a calf strain and it’s a bit early to say what his prospects are for Monday. Kyle Walker should be fine,” he added.

With Sandro back on Monday night, the Brazilian should step into to Lennon’s boots but if both VDV and Defoe fail to make it then it should mean a Spurs debut for Louis Saha.

You have to fill a 25 man squad with somebody and given the three major loan departures and one permanent sale earlier this week, perhaps it’s no surprise at some of the names being included by Spurs this week.

In addition to those departures, Tom Carroll and John Bostock also went out to Derby and Sheffield Wednesday respectively so are David Bentley, Bongani Khumalo and Simon Dawkins literally there to ‘make up the numbers?’

The inclusion of Khumalo is logical in the sense that Bassong and Corluka were sent out on loan with only Ryan Nelsen coming in. With Spurs desperately short of cover at the back, the South African could be needed but after failing to impress at Reading, this could be his last chance.

As for David Bentley, even when injuries have shorn the team of right sided players there always seems to have been someone in to cover so he is still likely to be some way behind Parker, Lennon, Sandro and Jake Livermore.

The case of Dawkins however is an interesting one and although he could also provide last choice cover in his relevant area – the front line, is he the best candidate? He has been quoted as a ‘good prospect’ for some time now but at 24, it may be time to start moving beyond that status.

Overall, each player seems to be last ditch cover in defence, midfield and up front so maybe it isn’t such a shock after all?

Whatever your view of Spurs’ deadline day transfer dealings, don’t expect Kevin Bond to be reading any comments after the late captures of Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen.

Bond did however attempt to ease any disquiet by suggesting that we should all trust Harry and the players he has brought in.

“I don’t look at message boards and those who are on there are entitled to their opinion. But with the greatest respect I would be trusting Harry’s judgement.

“We think it is good business for us. I think we’re a stronger squad now. The January window has freshened it up.”

Bond then likened the players to a previous Tottenham hero along with a striker who is not held in such high regard at White Hart Lane.

“People thought Teddy Sheringham was miles past his best but he did really well and Paul Merson did unbelievably for Harry,” Bond added. “Hopefully he will do it with a couple more now.”

Saha may be no Sheringham – perhaps not even a Merson but he could well get his first chance to impress Spurs fans on Monday night.

After a full week of news both on and off the pitch, Tottenham centre half Younes Kaboul identified the 3-1 win over Wigan as a return to form after some indifferent results of late.

Younes played a full part in the win and was unlucky not to open the scoring on two occasions before Gareth Bale and Luka Modric sealed the win.

“We took three very important points, and we played very well again. It wasn’t easy but we played great football from the start. We scored early, and we carried on to try to score more goals,” he said.

Looking ahead to the next game however, the Frenchman is expecting a tough encounter against Liverpool but he insisted that the club can beat anyone, anywhere.

“They’re a very good team and we have to go there to have another good performance and try to get the three points.

“Anyone can beat anyone in this League, that’s why it’s so good. I think it’s the only League in Europe like that.”

Younes rounded off the interview by welcoming fellow Frenchman Louis Saha into the club.

“Louis is welcome here at Spurs,” he said.

“He’s a quality player and we welcome him here. I don’t know him very well, I just know he’s a good lad.”

Saha may start from the bench on Monday night but you can be certain that Younes Kaboul is now one of the first names on Harry’s team sheet.

The protracted transfer of Blackburn Rovers defender Ryan Nelsen has now been officially confirmed by the club after his previous employers rubber stamped the termination of his contract.

While the club were announcing the deal on the official website, Spurs assistant Kevin Bond revealed that Nelsen was fit and available for Monday night’s game at Liverpool.

“He is fit and eligible to play on Monday,” Bond said. “I’ve just had a cup of tea with him in the canteen. He is looking forward to the challenge.”

Barring any further injuries, it looks as if Nelsen will settle for a place on the bench but given the lack of cover in the Tottenham squad, it shouldn’t be long before he makes his first team debut.

Tottenham’s youngsters continued a good week of results at the club with a 1-0 win over Liverpool to take them into to the semi finals of the NextGen series. The winner came in the second half, courtesy of Shaq Coulthirst but Spurs had to withstand heavy pressure from the visitors throughout.

We created plenty of our own chances but much of the credit for the win goes to goalkeeper Jonathan Miles who kept Liverpool at bay, particularly after Shaq’s goal had gone in.

Without any retrievable words from Tim Sherwood, it was left to Reds coach Rodolfo Borrell to sum up his view of the night.

“If you don’t score goals, you don’t win games, it’s as simple as that,” Borrell said.

“It was a great team effort and we created many chances but if we had been playing for another three hours I don’t think we would have scored.

“In the first half we needed to be more clinical and in the second half their keeper made some very good saves.”

Congratulations to all involved and a repeat score line in Monday’s first team fixture would be nice too.

Amidst all the loan deals away from White Hart Lane yesterday there was one permanent departure and it came in the shape of Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko who has departed for Lokomotiv Moscow for a fee in the region of £7.5m.

It had been an unhappy eighteen months at the Lane for Pav, punctuated by occasional match winning strikes against the likes of Birmingham last season and against Sunderland a few weeks ago, where his solitary goal could yet prove vital in the course of the season.

Pav joined us in 2008 and was a fans favourite for many, despite never really reproducing the prolific form he showed at Spartak Moscow. He will perhaps be best remembered for a purple patch in 2009-10 after returning from injury that spurred on our run into the Champions League.

Roman leaves us after notching 41 goals in 111 games for the club and few Spurs fans wouldn’t join us in wishing him all the best back in Moscow.

Some time in December, a story emerged in the papers linking Spurs with a move for Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez. In truth, nobody really believed it but at the time, a ‘source’ stated that it would be the biggest deal since Klinsmann.

In the end, we got a transfer that was reminiscent of a deadline day deal that happened a few years ago. It’s actually easy and maybe a little lazy to compare Louis Saha to Grzegorz Rasiak but is the Frenchman such a bad call as third / fourth place striker? Harry seems to think it’s a good shout.

“He’s got good movement, can score goals but probably needs a change. He’s out of contract at the end of the year so David Moyes has let him go,” Redknapp said.

“I can remember speaking to Rio Ferdinand and he said he was the best forward he’d played against.”

Injuries up front mean that Saha may well make his Spurs debut at Liverpool next week while injuries elsewhere have often seen Spurs pick from only two fit centre backs over the last eighteen months. That fact has been addressed by letting two defenders go out on loan and bringing one in so step forward Ryan Nelsen, a man who has been released by Blackburn because of…. Chronic injury problems.

The club hadn’t announced the deal on their website but the player’s agent had this to say,

“We settled with Blackburn and have reached agreement with Spurs,” said Lyle Yorks.

“We’re just awaiting clearance. It’s for six months, with a one-year option. It all unfolded quickly.”

Few Spurs fans will want to be negative at this stage of what has been a memorable season so far, but many heads are being scratched today.

While the emerging transfer stories dominate the headlines there was the small matter of a 3-1 win over a poor Wigan side last night. No prizes for guessing the man of the match although Luka Modric would have run two goal Gareth Bale close with some intricate passing and a stunning goal of his own.

“I’ve been sitting down all week. I kept dancing around like a two-year-old!” Said Harry Redknapp after the game.

“It was nice to get on my feet again. The fans were great – I appreciated it.

“I am happy. We’re back up there again. I keep looking at the gap behind us. We’re 13 points ahead of Arsenal now – it’s a nice lead.”

The win keeps Spurs in third place but extends their lead over Chelsea who dropped two points away to Swansea. Next up for Tottenham is a trip to Anfield on Monday night and a repeat of last season’s corresponding fixture would do very nicely indeed.

With the exception of January 2011, Spurs have often thrown up a surprise at the fag end of a transfer window but it’s doubtful as to whether any Tottenham fans would have woken up this morning expecting Louis Saha to be wearing a Lilywhite shirt at the end of the day.

The chain of events seems to have sparked off by Rangers’ acceptance of Everton’s bid for Nikica Jelavic which left Saha, who was already struggling at Goodison, surplus to requirements. The deal may be a loan or it may be permanent: In addition, it may or may not involve either Steven Pienaar or Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Elsewhere, it seems that there is still a possibility that Spurs may go in for Wigan’s Hugo Rodallega and Chairman Dave Whelan is bracing himself for bids from somewhere.

“We’re used to Tottenham making a last-minute bid on transfer deadline. We’ve not received a bid but that doesn’t mean they won’t make one. If they do they always leave it late, very late.”

But it’s Saha who seems to be firmly in the frame. At 33 he was actually quite prolific at Fulham where he scored around a goal every other game. At Manchester United and Everton however, that has dropped to approximately 1 in 3.

The answer may seem obvious but it’s worth asking just to see the reaction – is Louis Saha the striker we need?