Van der Vaart brings joy to Harry

Rafael van der Vaart has given Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp a welcome Christmas present.

It was feared the 28-year-old had suffered a hamstring tear in Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Thursday.

But speaking to Sky Sports News, Redknapp said: “He looks okay”.

“He looks like he could be fit (to face Norwich on Tuesday).”

After the Dutch forward was substituted at half-time, Redknapp’s initial diagnosis was that the 28-year-old faced a few weeks out.

However, Redknapp revealed that a later check had provided positive news.

“We thought he had a hamstring (tear). He went for a scan and it didn’t show a tear,” he said.

“I think he probably had a bit of cramp in there where he’s had a problem before, a bit of tightness he felt maybe might go, so he took the precaution of not playing on with it.”

Van der Vaart is close to scoring a goal every other game for Spurs in the Premier League, with 19 in 40 starts.

The Dutch midfielder is likely to be the key to any continued title challenge Spurs might make, as the London club are nine points behind leaders Manchester City with a game in hand.

However, van der Vaart played down any title talk despite the club having moved third on the back of a run of only one defeat in 14 league matches.

“We are third and still have one game in hand. We’re playing really good this season – you can see it in the big games, so it’s going to be interesting,” he said.

“But there’s still a long way to go. We have to keep on winning our games and then we’ll see.”

Spurs will though be without winger Aaron Lennon for “weeks” after he injured his hamstring against Sunderland.

Lennon, 24, missed the draw with Chelsea, which saw Emmanuel Adebayor give Tottenham the lead after only eight minutes before Daniel Sturridge equalised.

“We had no one who could play wide right to give us the balance we needed,” Redknapp said.

“When Aaron Lennon is not out there, we haven’t really got a wide right player.”