After missing the 3-1 victory over Reading on Sunday, several fans were wondering why defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto was not included in Andre Villas-Boas’ squad. However, it has now come to light that the Cameroon international has suffered a knee injury and he looks set to miss the next four weeks.

Assou-Ekotto was replaced by Kyle Naughton at left-back, with the former Sheffield United defender surrendering his usual position as right-back. The move at least didn’t seem to prompt any problems within the team, with Spurs comfortably beating their Madejski Stadium opponents by a 3-1 score line to net a first victory of the season. Should AVB wish to swap things about even more over the course of the next few months, summer signing Jan Vertonghen has had experience of playing on the left side of defence for his country and could be considered an option.

However, for the time being the focus will be getting Assou-Ekotto back to full fitness as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the problem may not heal by itself and there is the chance that the 28-year-old could need surgery. Speaking about the injury, AVB said, “Benoit has a small fragment in his knee that makes it swell a lot. He has played through pain in the last couple of games. His knee may have to be washed out and if that happens we are looking at a four-week absence.”

The news of Assou-Ekotto’s injury will certainly be a huge blow to Spurs, who have relied on the former Lens man as their first choice left back for the past four campaigns. After joining in the summer of 2006, the player soon made the position his own and he’s never looked back. He is considered as one of the best attacking full backs in the top flight and it’ll be interesting to see how the club cope with his absence on the left during the next few weeks.