Tottenham defender Ledley King has suffered a setback in his recovery from a groin injury.
The 30-year-old centre-back, who continues to manage a long-running knee problem, has been sidelined since suffering a groin injury back in mid-October but had recently returned to training.
However, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has now confirmed King suffered a reoccurrence of the problem in training this week, and admitted the England international could face further surgery.
Redknapp said: “Up until Ledley got injured, it was good craic with David (Beckham) training as if he was just one of the boys and Jonathan Woodgate out there too after his long lay-off.
“Ledley has done his groin again. Now we have to make a decision on an operation.
“Ledley was playing great and then, with the last kick of the morning, did his groin again.
“We've been deciding if he needs an operation or not, so we've been pushing him a bit. He'll have to talk to the medical people now to make that decision.”