King puts injury on ice for Berbatov challenge

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His knees will not let him train this week, and he was very close to being unable to face West Ham on Monday, but Ledley King has said that he will be back to play against Dimitar Berbatov at White Hart Lane on Saturday. The Tottenham captain's chronic knee problem has meant that he has rarely played two games in six days for his club over the last three seasons but this week he hopes to make an exception.

King, 28, scored his first goal for Tottenham in just under three years in the win over West Ham. His manager Harry Redknapp said after the game that King had only been able to train for 15 minutes in the run-up to the game at Upton Park and had instead kept an ice pack on his knee to keep the swelling down. King said: "I'm desperate to play against Manchester United. I'm really up for that one, I want to be involved in all the big games. I'll do my best to prepare for United, it will be a short week getting ready for that one.

"Dimitar was brilliant for us, I'm sure he will get a good reception from the fans when he comes back with United. He was like Robbie Keane, he was the fans' favourite while he was here. I'm sure they appreciate what he did for the club and hopefully we can keep him quiet if he is playing."

Redknapp is still interested in signing Portsmouth's Glen Johnson next month. With Alan Hutton injured, he had to play Vedran Corluka at right-back against West Ham. The Spurs manager will have to sell players if he wants to raise the fee – expected to be around £6m – for Johnson.