Tottenham loses Defoe for Champions League group

Published Sep. 10, 2010 10:21 a.m. ET

foxsports

Tottenham's hopes of advancing from the group stages of the Champions League have been hit by the loss of striker Jermain Defoe for about three months following surgery on torn ankle ligaments.

Defoe was initially expected to be out for about six weeks but Tottenham has changed the prognosis after the forward had surgery on his right ankle Thursday night.

Defoe was hurt during England's 3-1 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday. Central defender Michael Dawson is out for eight weeks after injuring his left knee in England's 4-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday.

Tottenham will have to pick from Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch and Robbie Keane for Champions League matches against defending champion Inter Milan, Werder Bremen and FC Twente.