Young 'keeper on the road to recovery

Young goalkeeper Shawn Jalal is slowly taking his first steps to fitness after a string of injuries. Jalal had just returned to training after a thigh injury had ruled him out for a number of weeks when a freak training ground accident caused him to damage his cruciate ligaments, a footballers nightmare. Jalal compared his injury to the one suffered by Paul Gascoigne in the 1991 Cup Final and added, 'It is character building, you see it happen to other people and don't think it will happen to you'.

Shwan had enjoyed a loan spell at Woking where he was nominated for the Player of the Season award. It has not been all bad news for the young 'keeper who was given two weeks off, and subsequently went home to, in his words, 'enjoy my mum's cooking'. He admitted that he would rather be out on the pitch, and all at Spurs wish him a speedy recovery.