Van Der Vaart out versus Chelsea

Rafael van der Vaart has been ruled out of Tottenham's clash with Chelsea on Sunday because of injury.

 

Van der Vaart has made a huge impact since making a summer move from Real Madrid, but fitness has been a problem.

He limped off early on in the 2-1 win over Liverpool on November 28 and has not featured since. He was said to be in contention for the midweek Champions League clash with Twente, but he remained on the sidelines and is still struggling with a hamstring injury.

Harry Redknapp had hoped to bring him back against Chelsea, but the midfielder has failed to respond to treatment and Spurs will go into the derby without one of their most potent creative forces.

Luka Modric, though, will be available again after recovering from the illness that kept him out of the draw with Twente.

First-team coach Joe Jordan said: "Luka's okay. He trained on Wednesday and it was just a safety precaution (at Twente) because he was feeling the effects of a bug."

Jordan also confirmed that Younes Kaboul would return to training and was in contention for inclusion on Sunday, but Niko Kranjcar and Jermaine Jenas are out.

"It's disappointing for JJ," Jordan said. "He's had a recurrence of his calf injury, so he's not in the running for Chelsea."