Defoe and Walcott out for six weeks

Spurs striker Jermain Defoe has been ruled out for six weeks with a damaged ankle.

And Arsenal have confirmed that winger Theo Walcott will be sidelined for a similar period, also with an ankle problem.

Defoe was on crutches and wearing a protective boot on his right foot at Spurs’ training ground yesterday.

“Even if it’s a bad sprain, you’re still talking about six weeks or so, because it’s a nasty one,” said Spurs manager Harry Redknapp who last Friday saw Michael Dawson suffer a knee injury in England’s win over Bulgaria that will rule him out for eight weeks.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of Walcott: “The tackle looked quite bad.

“When you see how it turned his ankle I thought it would be three or four days or it would be four to six weeks. Unfortunately it will be four to six weeks.

“We had some good news about the scan because at some stage we were scared it could be worse. But overall it is a question of patience and rehabilitation.”

Wenger will be also be without Robin van Persie for a similar length of time but Samir Nasri has recovered quicker than expected after knee surgery and could even be involved against Bolton tomorrow.