There is always a collective crossing of fingers whenever Ledley King takes to the pitch these days but so far the club captain has enjoyed a largely injury free start to 2011-12 by his standards. He needs to play 20 games in order to guarantee a new contract at the end of the season and if he stays in good enough condition over the next few weeks, he could be well on course to hit that mark by the end of the year.
Ledley is looking beyond even that and has declared that he hasn’t given up hopes of one day representing his country again.
“I haven’t given up on England. It’s in the back of my mind but it’s getting further and further away,” he said.
Even if Ledley stayed fit until the end of the season it seems unlikely that Fabio Capello will pick him again following his all too brief contribution at the 2010 World Cup. However, a new manager might consider the centre half after Euro 2012.
In the meantime, King’s recent problems mean that most Spurs fans are looking no further than the next game and will be hoping for another solid contribution on Monday against Aston Villa.