Rafael van der Vaart must improve his fitness, says Spurs boss Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp has told Rafael van der Vaart he needs to get fitter.The Dutchman has been in superb form since joining Tottenham for £8m in August but Redknapp said: 'He's a fantastic player but he does just run out of steam a little bit at the moment still,' said Redknapp. 'He's got to get fitter and adapt to playing 90 minutes in the Premier League. Against Sunderland, he got tired and disappeared a bit in the second-half.'Van der Vaart played the full 90 minutes against Sunderland in midweek - only the fourth time in 10 games for Spurs - but Redknapp had been planning to replace him with Jermaine Jenas when the visitors equalised. Stamina building: Van der Vaart (left) has been told to get fitterVan der Vaart's teammate Roman Pavlyuchenko is having intensive acupunture in a bid to ease Tottenham's striker shortage this weekend.Redknapp fears that Peter Crouch will be his only fully fit striker for Saturday's visit of Blackburn.But Pavlyuchenko, who was forced off at half time with back pain during Spurs 1-1 draw with Sunderland on Tuesday night, said he had only suffered a spasm which was responding to treatment.'I felt the pain around the 25th minute after clashing with an opponent,' said the 28-year-old. 'My back cramped up and I was in a lot of pain. In the dressing room I told the doctor and had a massage, but it didn't help. But on Wednesday I had a check-up which, thank God, revealed only a muscle spasm. I'm walking gingerly, but I'm being intensively treated with acupuncture and massages.  Tottenham yesterday reported a pre-tax loss of £6.5million, despite record revenues of £119.8m. I'll be back, Harry! Pavlyuchenko tries acupuncture to relieve Spurs crisis Cahill for sale! Bolton ready to cash in on £15m defender as debts near £100mTOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC

Source: Daily_Mail