Moussa Dembl claims Tottenham will step up to fill void left by Gareth Bale

There were fears that the injury Bale suffered on Thursday could end his season Gary Jacob, The Times Published 1 minute ago Moussa Dembl has called on Tottenham Hotspurs players to step up to the plate after Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon learnt last night that they would be out for a fortnight. They join Jermain Defoe, another attacking player, on the sidelines. There were huge sighs of relief at White Hart Lane that the injury to Bale, who has sprained ligaments in his right ankle, was not considerably worse, as it had initially appeared, which would have been a significant impact on the teams hopes of maintaining a place in the top four.

Bale was carried off on a stretcher in stoppage time of the 2-2 draw against Basle in their Europa League quarter-final, first leg on Thursday, with some fears that he could be sidelined the season. A scan yesterday afternoon, however, revealed that the damage was far less serious and the attacking midfielder is expected to return in training within two weeks and be in contention to play in the Barclays Premier League match at home to Manchester City a fortnight tomorrow, although there is no assurance that he will be fit to start. Bale will miss the league match tomorrow against Everton, who are also vying for a Champions League place, and the return leg away to Basle on Thursday, when Tottenham need to score for any chance to book a place in the semi-final of the competition. Bale and Lennon, the winger who has sustained soft tissue contusion below the knee, began treatment yesterday alongside William Gallas, the defender who has a calf strain. Both attacking players have been in excellent form and their absence could leave Tottenham with a lack of width, with Clint Dempsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson tending to cut in. In the enforced absence of Defoe, possibly Lennon, and Emmanuel Adebayor struggling for form, Tottenham may regret not signing in another striker in January. Some will question why they waited until the eleventh hour to make a formal offer for Leandro Damio, the Brazil forward, who has been a target for the past two years, and offered considerably below the asking price. They were in a stronger position in January a year ago when they signed Louis Saha on a short-term deal, despite Harry Redknapp pushing for something more significant, and ran out of steam to secure a Champions League place. If Tottenham keep winning, they will secure at least third place. The onus will be on other players to make the difference. Adebayor has scored only two goals in the league, Dempsey five and Dembl one.

Dembl said that Spurs should look to Dempsey, who followed him from Fulham last summer. We have to win our games to have something nice, so the injuries are not good timing, but there are other good players who can play well, he said. Gareth has been very important for us, but other players have to step up now. We have good players on the bench as well and they can play very well. With or without them [the injured players], we can win our games. I remember Clint at Fulham being very important, so I know what he can do. He can score important goals. Thats the reason I have confidence [in our chances]. Everybody knows that Bale and Lennon are very important players for us, so its another big disappointment. Jan Vertonghen, the Belgium defender was named as the Barclays player of the month for March yesterday, but had poor games against Basle and away to Inter Milan. It was notable on both occasions that he was playing alongside Gallas. Vertonghen was given the runaround by Marco Streller, who felt that Basle had been taken too lightly. They were surprised how good we were offensively, Streller said. We had many chances. It could have been at least four or five. Our fans will sing like horses [in the return leg].