Tottenham are concerned that the injury suffered by Jermain Defoe in the 1-0 victory over West Brom could rule the striker out of action for as long as two months.

Defoe was forced off before the break with what appeared to be a badly twisted ankle as he was helped off the pitch by two members of the Tottenham staff, clearly unable to put any weight on the injury.

Jermain Defoe
Jermain Defoe is carried off after damaging his ankle in the win over West Brom [Reuters]

The Mirror reported that Defoe left the Hawthornes wearing a protective boot and will now have an MRI scan on the injury which could keep him on the sidelines for as long as two months.

Defoe has been the only striker available to Villas-Boas in recent weeks and it seems the Spurs boss will once again have just one forward to select, as Emmanuel Adebayor is about to return from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Adebayor was unable to prevent Togo from being knocked out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage as Burkino Faso pulled off a surprise victory.

Tottenham have previously used Clint Dempsey as a lone forward, but Villas-Boas will be left ruing the fact that they could not complete a January deal for Internacional striker Leandro Damiao.

The Brazil international was the subject of an offer from Spurs on deadline day but chairman Daniel Levy was unable to secure a last minute deal, and the club instead made the decision to recall Harry Kane from his loan at Norwich.

Damiao recently thanked Tottenham for their interest but indicated that he was not happy to remain at Internacional for many years to come.

"I certainly thank Tottenham [for their interest], they are a big club in Europe, but my focus is on Inter," Damiao told Correio do Povo.

"I hope to help Inter for a long time, I have a long contract and I am very happy and focused."

Despite missing out on Damiao, and the injury occurring to Defoe, Villas-Boas declared that he was happy with his squad as they have plenty of attack-minded midfielders, including Gareth Bale who took his Premier League tally to 11 on Sunday.

"Hopefully there is not a lot of ligament damage. If there is, it could be up to two or three weeks to recover," said Villas-Boas. "Obviously we took the risk because we felt we had options.

"Still we are safe with the options we have. We create a lot as a team. Our goals come from different sources and once again Bale has done the business.

"He is having a great season so far. But it is a setback because Defoe means a lot to us as a team, as a person and as a player."