Ziege return 'a small miracle'

Christian Ziege today admitted for the first time that he thought he would never fully recover after damaging his thigh.

The career of Tottenham's German international looked to be over 10 months ago when a "dead leg" injury suffered against Charlton on Boxing Day required emergency surgery.

Ziege almost lost his leg as his thigh grew to twice its normal size and surgeons left him with a 10-inch scar as they battled to save his career.

Now, Ziege could even be on the bench for the visit of former club Middlesbrough to White Hart Lane on Sunday.

He said: "I sometimes think of it as a small miracle. I can now use my leg normally again and have regained complete control over it. There were times where I doubted whether I would be able to experience this again."