Crouch 'no longer priority' for Spurs

Harry Redknapp admits he may have to enter the market for a defender after injuries left him without a fit centre-half. Spurs had been favourites to sign Peter Crouch but Redknapp has conceded that injuries to Michael Dawson, Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King mean a move for a defender has now become his priority.

Redknapp revealed that King "hasn't kicked a ball all pre-season" after his long-term knee injury flared up again on his return from the summer break. Woodgate has been sent to a specialist in America to look at a groin problem while Redknapp also said that Dawson will miss the start of the season with an Achilles injury. The three injuries have left Spurs without a fit recognised central defender with the Premier League season due to start in under four weeks.

"We weren't thinking of buying anyone in defence but suddenly this problem has come up all of a sudden and it leaves us short," said Redknapp.

"Suddenly your priorities change and you think maybe we'll have to do something about getting a centre-half in for the start of the season because we have no central defenders.

"I like Crouch but at the moment I have four good strikers so it's not really a priority for us. He's a good player and most teams would like to have him but the whole package looks expensive to me. We're not desperate at the moment for strikers. It's an awful lot of money for a 28- or 29-year-old.

"No disrespect to him but it's an expensive deal, because there's no return when you pay that type of money and obviously his salary is high so I don't know if it is possible for us to do that deal."