Van der Vaart boost for Spurs

Tottenham forward Rafael van der Vaart looks set to face Norwich on Tuesday night after his hamstring injury proved less serious than first feared.

The 28-year-old Holland international was substituted at half-time of Thursday's 1-1 draw against Chelsea due to the problem, but a subsequent scan showed no tear and he could therefore be in line to play at Carrow Road.

"He looks okay," Spurs manager Harry Redknapp told Sky Sports News. "He looks like he could be fit."

He added: "We thought he had a hamstring. He went for a scan and it didn't show a tear.

"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, who trained on Christmas Day and will do so again on Boxing Day, said: "I think I'm going to be fine."

Tottenham have lost just once in their last 14 Barclays Premier League matches to climb to third in the table, but Van der Vaart is not getting too carried away with title talk.

The former Hamburg and Real Madrid man added: "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.

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