Edgar Davids will miss Tottenham Hotspur's opening Barclays
Premiership match at Portsmouth after suffering a knee injury in
training.
The Holland midfielder, who arrived at White Hart Lane on a free
transfer from Inter Milan this summer, had been hoping to make his
league debut at Fratton Park but that has now been temporarily
delayed.
Head coach Martin Jol told official club website www.spurs.co.uk:
"He fell off balance in a collision in training but thankfully it
looks quite a minor injury and he should be back in a week or
two."
The injury is a real blow to Jol, who was hoping the 32-year-old
could provide the drive and steel in midfield in the same way Roy
Keane does for Manchester United.
Jol said: Edgar is very quiet outside of football but he is always
coaching the other lads in training. He takes one or two of the
younger players aside and talks to them about little details of
their game and I like that.
The players react to that. They listen to him and that is exactly
one of the reasons we are very happy with him.
He came into the dressing room at half-time in our friendly
against Reading to give us a signal that he wanted to come and join
us and that was good because we played well in the second half. All
those little things are important in a club.
How important has Roy Keane been for Manchester United over the
last decade? Very important. Hopefully, he will have the same value
for us.
Davids' absence is a further setback to Jol, who is already without
captain Ledley King (groin), Tom Huddlestone (knee), Michael Brown
(foot), Mounir El Hamdaoui (ankle), Noe Pamarot (knee) and Sean
Davis (knee).
In King's absence, Jol is expected to hand the captain's armband to
either Michael Carrick, who led the side on a number of occasions
in pre-season, or Paul Robinson.
Despite the injury problems, Jol is confident Spurs can overcome
their renowned travel sickness.
Its about mental toughness. We have to get that, that is the
quality of a team. In a mental way we had to change last season. We
need a winning mentality away from home.
Away from home we didnt concede a lot of goals but lost games by
1-0. We lost games against Charlton and Palace away and those are
the most important games. You have to win against the lesser teams,
not just Manchester United.
Portsmouth manager Alain Perrin knows Spurs will provide his side
with a tough test, but admits the opening weekend could be a good
time to face them.
Perrin said: They look a good side. There is never a good time to
play a good team, although maybe now is OK before their new players
have settled.
We will not be the best team in the Premiership but I think we
will be a stronger team who can challenge every other side.
(Laurent) Robert is an important signing.
He will give a lot to the squad in confidence and experience and
of course he scores goals from free-kicks.
For his part, Robert is looking forward to a fresh start having
ended a turbulent spell with Newcastle United in the summer.
"To be honest, I enjoyed my four years at Newcastle, he
said.
It is a great souvenir, but that is over now and I am happy to be
here with Portsmouth.
Former Paris St Germain star Robert has signed on loan at Fratton
Park for a year but intends to stay for at least three.
He added: It is a happy place. We have good players and although
some people were surprised I signed it was, in the end, because of
the manager who gives me a lot of confidence.
I dont know if the Premier League has seen the best of me yet but
I will try my best and if the other players play well around me I
know we will do well.
The UEFA Cup must be a target and Im still thinking about the
World Cup with France. Why not? But first we must make a good start
and Tottenham are difficult.
Perrin will keep Zambia striker Collins Mbesuma on ice for the home
date with Spurs, but several of his summer signings look set to
start.
Pompey are without defenders Linvoy Primus and Aliou Cisse through
injury but Sander Westerveld looks set to get the nod in goal ahead
of Jamie Ashdown.
Loan signing Azar Karadas should form the attack with Lomana LuaLua
despite suffering a slight knee injury in training on Thursday.
Dejan Stefanovic captains the side after Arjan de Zeeuws return to
Wigan Athletic.
Portsmouth (from): Westerveld, Griffin, OBrien, Stefanovic,
Vignal, ONeil, Hughes, Viafara, Robert, Karadas, LuaLua, Taylor,
Pericard, Todorov, Mornar, Rodic, Skopelitis, Unsworth,
Ashdown.
Tottenham Hotspur (from): Robinson, Cerny, Stalteri, Edman, Dawson,
Gardner, Carrick, Tainio, Reid, Routledge, Keane, Defoe, Mido,
Kanoute, Naybet, Kelly, Davenport, Bunjevcevic, Ziegler.
