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Gattuso's butt on Jordan earns him four-game ban

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Tuesday 22 February 2011 01:00 GMT
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(GETTY IMAGES)

Gennaro Gattuso has been suspended for four games by Uefa for headbutting the Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach, Joe Jordan, last week. The incident occurred at the end of Spurs' 1-0 win in San Siro, and the ban will rule the 33-year-old out of four Uefa club competition matches following the return leg at White Hart Lane, for which he was already suspended.

Tottenham travel to Blackpool tonight knowing that a win will send them third in the Premier League, but that they will have to do so without Rafael van der Vaart. The Dutch forward has suffered a recurrence of a calf injury and Harry Redknapp admitted that his absence would be felt.

"Rafa did his calf again yesterday [Sunday] in training so he's struggling," conceded the Spurs manager. "He missed a couple of games, played in Milan, got through 70 minutes and then yesterday didn't feel good. It's a blow, he is a fantastic player. We need him but we can't get that run out of him. I'm hoping he will be back for Wolves [6 March]. He should be OK, it's not a tear."

Spurs will also be without Gareth Bale and Vedran Corluka this evening. The Welshman is returning from a back injury and, according to Redknapp, is "slowly improving". Corluka, however, "will be out for a while" after an injury inflicted by Mathieu Flamini in San Siro. Luka Modric may make his first start since January, but Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King are also out.

A win tonight would send Spurs third for the first time since 23 October. It is their first visit to Bloomfield Road since the 1991 FA Cup, which they won.

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