• Europa League

Van der Vaart 'annoyed' at Europa League omission

ESPN staff
September 13, 2011
Rafael van der Vaart suffered a hamstring problem during Tottenham's 5-1 loss to Manchester City © Getty Images
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Rafael van der Vaart has expressed his annoyance that Tottenham left him out of their Europa League squad without telling him, but he did confirm that he will definitely be fit to face Liverpool at the weekend.

Van der Vaart has been nursing a hamstring injury picked up in the 5-1 defeat against Manchester City, which was initially expected to keep him sidelined for six weeks. However, the player's specialist Dick van Toorn revealed on Sunday that Van der Vaart would be fit for Spurs' next game.

Harry Redknapp's side take on PAOK in their opening Europa League game on Thursday, but Van der Vaart has been omitted from the squad. Spurs intend to give the Dutchman extra time to recover from his injury.

That decision has seemingly not gone down well with the 28-year-old, who responded to the news in an article on his personal website, headlined: "Annoying".

Van der Vaart clearly feels he should have been involved on the decision, stating: "I still think it's a peculiar situation. Spurs could at least have consulted me.

"Anyway it's up to the point of no return. I will be focusing on the game against Liverpool. I'm pretty convinced I will be fit by then thanks to Dick van Toorn."

Tottenham host Liverpool in the early kick-off on Sunday hoping to build on their first victory of the season recently picked up at Wolves. However, they will be without Michael Dawson, who has been ruled out for the next two months.

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