LONDON — Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Rafael van der Vaart said he hopes to make a quicker-than-expected return from a hamstring injury despite being sidelined for six weeks, Sky Sports reported Saturday.
Van der Vaart suffered the injury during the latter stages of Spurs’ 5-1 home thrashing at the hands of Manchester City in the English Premier League (EPL) last weekend.
An MRI scan showed the Dutch international has torn his hamstring and Spurs confirmed club doctors expect him to be out for around six weeks.
He missed his country’s 11-0 thrashing of San Marino on Friday night and will also sit out next Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifier away to Finland.
However, the former Ajax and Real Madrid star handed his club side a boost by revealing to the Dutch press he could return to action much sooner.
“It feels OK now,” Van der Vaart told De Telegraaf. “I hope in one to two weeks to make my comeback. The past has proven that I can quickly recover from such an injury.”
Spurs’ next EPL game is against Wolves on Sept. 10, with Harry Redknapp’s men then facing PAOK Salonika in the Europa League before welcoming Liverpool to White Hart Lane on Sept. 18.
