Tottenham wingback Christian Ziege will miss the start of the new Premiership season with an ankle injury, manager Glenn Hoddle confirmed today.
Ziege, who played for Germany in the World Cup final, picked up the problem in the friendly against Celtic last week and is ruled out for three weeks.
Hoddle, who is also expected to be without Steffen Freund, Les Ferdinand, Gus Poyet, Steve Clemence and Ledley King for Saturday's Premiership opener at Everton, told the club's official website, www.spurs.co.uk: "Christian will be out for three weeks, which will be a blow to us.
"Behind the scenes we're trying to get everyone fit but at the moment it seems to be a hard job on our hands.
"I'm sure with the persistence and belief we will get there. You always get three or four injuries - but not eight or nine, which we've got at the moment."