Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko looks set for a spell on the sidelines after injuring his knee in a freak accident involving Andros Townsend.
Pavlyuchenko has not started a Barclays Premier League game this season, but he has enjoyed a run of appearances in the Europa League and was expected to lead the line in Wednesday night's Group A clash against Greek side PAOK Salonika.
That was until the Russian clashed with young winger Townsend in a training ground accident on Monday that means manager Harry Redknapp is likely to give Jermain Defoe a starting berth, when he would have liked to have rested the England star. "There is no-one else really because Pav did his knee yesterday," Redknapp said.
"It doesn't look very good. He just banged it on Andros Townsend's head. He slipped and hit Andros and it looks very swollen. It doesn't look great."
Despite scoring a stunning free-kick to give Spurs victory in their last European home game against Rubin Kazan, Pavlyuchenko has struggled to make an impact at White Hart Lane this season, due to the form of Rafael van der Vaart, Emmanuel Adebayor and Defoe.
The 29-year-old is determined to play regular first-team football in order to secure his place in Russia's Euro 2012 squad, and a number of clubs from England and Europe could move for the striker in January.
Should he depart, one replacement that has been suggested is Chelsea's out-of-favour striker Nicolas Anelka. The Frenchman, 32, has featured rarely under Andre Villas-Boas and looks set to leave the west London side either in January or when his contract expires next summer.
Redknapp, a manager who has a good record of getting the best out of players approaching the end of their careers, refused to rule out a bid for the former Arsenal and Real Madrid man, saying: "I have always liked him.
"I think he is a fantastic goalscorer but he is not a player who I have made any enquiries about or mentioned to the chairman. Having said that, I wouldn't stand here and say, 'No. Never', because if I did sign him you would say, 'What a lying git'. It's not a bad shout. He's a good player."
Spurs are expecting a crowd of between 25,000 and 30,000 for the game despite stopping ticket sales on Monday evening. The club acted on the advice of safety advisors after it was feared PAOK fans had started to buy tickets in the home stands after selling out their away allocation. Around 3,000 PAOK supporters without tickets are thought to have travelled to London.
Source: PA
