SICK NOTE STRIKES AGAIN
The player dubbed 'sick note' because of his absenteeism, has yet to have a season unaffected by injury since the European Championships were hosted in England just over four years ago.
In both the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, Anderton missed over half the games through injury, starting a paltry 28% of Tottenham's total Premiership fixtures. In both campaigns, Spurs finished mid-table or below.
However, it did not stop England boss Glenn Hoddle picking Anderton in his starting team for World Cup 1998, and the following season saw a marked improvement. The former Portsmouth star only missed 16% of Spurs' 1998-99 campaign and then-new manager George Graham must have wondered what all the fuss was about.
He soon understood as Anderton contrived to miss 16 consecutive Premiership games during last season - a time at which Tottenham were erratic to say the least.
Anderton still managed to come back in 1999-2000, netting three goals before the season was out, and started this new campaign on fire, scoring against Ipswich on the opening day. But, after Tuesday night, a new chapter in the Southampton-born midfielder's injury story seems to have opened.
Since Euro 1996, Anderton has missed a massive 67 games in total, which means the talented winger has been able to play in only 57% of Tottenham's league fixtures. Undoubtedly, this has affected Spurs' progression over recent seasons given the difficulty in building a team with an integral component often missing.
After four games of 2000-01, the wheels again appear to have come off Anderton's career, and the news that he may miss another sizeable chunk of a Premiership campaign will not please Graham or England boss Kevin Keegan. Unfortunately for Tottenham, sick note has struck again.
