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Defoe fears long injury layoff

Jermain Defoe limped off against Young Boys © Getty Images

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Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe fears he may miss months of the season after being forced to have treatment on a long-standing groin injury.

Defoe limped off during Spurs' 3-2 defeat to Young Boys in the Champions League play-off with a recurrence of the problem that has plagued him since the World Cup.

The England international is concerned that the injury, which is similar to the one that forced Aaron Lennon to miss four months of last season, will prevent him from playing a part in the early stages of Spurs' campaign.

"I have been strengthening it after I felt a little tweak in my groin during the World Cup," Defoe said. "I was sprinting in the second half against Young Boys and I could really feel it. Aaron had the same problem last season and he ripped it. I don't want to miss months of the season like him."

Elsewhere, Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone has admitted that at half-time in the match against Young Boys - when Spurs trailed 3-1 - it felt like the club had wasted the efforts they put in last season in order to reach the Champions League places.

"It felt at half-time that we had wasted the 38 games of last season, but at the final whistle we are still in with a shout," Huddlestone said. "We grafted through an entire season to finish fourth [in the Premier League] and it basically comes down to two games in a play-off to see whether you go through.

"We could have been dead and buried. I twould have been a travesty to lose the game by a large margin, but we're still in it and we fancy ourselves."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.