King gives Tottenham a boost for Euro clash

Tottenham captain Ledley King is expected to face Wisla Krakow in Poland and help Juande Ramos turn around the club's disastrous start to the campaign.

King has featured in Spurs' two wins this season, but his recovery from knee surgery has prevented him from playing twice in quick succession and the centre-back was rested for the defeat to Portsmouth at the weekend.

With Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka ineligible to face Wisla, head coach Ramos will have only 19 senior players to fill his 18-man squad — and that's if Gareth Bale recovers from a minor foot injury.

"Pavlyuchenko and Corluka can't play in Europe, Ledley King can't play in every match, Gareth Bale is injured, we have small injuries each week and I need to change three or four players every match," said the Spaniard, whose side lead 2-1 from the first leg.

King has endured two years of injury problems but has been involved in Spurs' significant victories during that time, including the Carling Cup win against Chelsea in February.

The 27-year-old spent time in Barcelona to get himself right for the new season, although he is still used sparingly by Ramos, who admits the injury has to be monitored after each appearance.

At stake in Krakow is a place in the UEFA Cup group stages and the guaranteed income that another four European matches brings, before Spurs concentrate on getting league points against Hull and Stoke.

The inquest into Tottenham's worst league start in 53 years will continue if they fail to kick-start their season, with former Spurs boss Terry Venables blaming it partly on the failure to land Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin.