Tottenham star Jermain Defoe out for up to three months
Defoe was carried off midway through the second half in Basle
Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe has been ruled out for up to three months after undergoing surgery to repair ankle ligament damage.
The 27-year-old suffered the injury in England's 3-1 win over Switzerland on Tuesday and was carried off.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp had initially hoped to have the striker back within six weeks.
Defoe is now set to miss the Champions League group stages as well as England games against Montenegro and France.
The timing of the injury is a real blow for the forward, who has been in impressive form and scored a hat-trick in England's 4-0 victory against Bulgaria at Wembley in the opening qualifier last Friday.
And it is also another slice of bad luck for Tottenham and Redknapp because centre-back Michael Dawson will be sidelined for eight weeks after suffering knee and ankle ligament problems in the Bulgaria match.
Defoe was seen using crutches and wearing a protective boot on his right foot at Spurs' training ground on Thursday.
A three-month recovery would see Defoe return for the visit of Chelsea on 11 December, having missed 13 Premier League matches and the entire Champions League group stage.
At the end of August, Tottenham postponed plans for Defoe to undergo groin surgery after he scored in the 4-0 Champions League play-off win over Young Boys and then declared himself fit.
It meant he was available for England's opening Euro 2012 qualifiers and the decision appeared to be the correct one as Defoe excelled at Wembley, earning high praise from coach Fabio Capello.
But Tottenham will now be without Defoe as they embark on their first foray into Europe's premier club competition for 48 years, while England will have to do without him in their Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on 12 October and friendly against France on 17 November.
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