Van der Vaart set to return against Norwich

Tottenham Hotspur forward Rafael van der Vaart looks set to play against Norwich Tuesday night after his hamstring injury proved less serious than first feared.

The 28-year-old Dutch international was substituted at half-time in Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea, but a subsequent scan showed no tear and he could be in line to play at Carrow Road, Xinhua reported.

“He looks okay,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said. “He looks like he could be fit.

“We thought he had a hamstring. He went for a scan and it didn’t show a tear.

“I think he probably had cramps, a bit of tightness he felt maybe might go, so he took the precaution of not playing on with it.”

Van der Vaart, who trained Sunday and will do so again tomorrow, said, “I think I am going to be fine.”

Tottenham have lost just once in their last 14 Barclays Premier League matches to climb to third in the table, but Van der Vaart is not getting too carried away with title talk.

The former Hamburg and Real Madrid man said: “We are third and still have one game in hand. We are playing really good this season, you can see it in the big games, so it is going to be interesting.

“But there is still a long way to go. We have to keep on winning our games and then we will see.”