King reveals injury hell

Tottenham captain Ledley King has revealed the full extent of his injury heartbreak.

The 25-year-old broke a metatarsal towards the end of last season and had to watch from the sidelines as Spurs agonisingly missed out on a place in the UEFA Champions League.

The injury also meant he was not picked for England's World Cup squad and, just as he was recovering, he suffered a knee problem and had to undergo surgery.

King finally returned to action against Manchester United last Saturday, but he has described the pain he felt during his five months out.

"It's probably been the toughest part of my footballing career so far," he said.

"Missing the end of the season for Tottenham was tough. Being captain and not being able to be out there to help the boys for the last push was tough to take.

"Then missing out on the World Cup was another big blow. I was looking forward to the start of the season when I picked up another injury.

"That was probably the lowest of the lows. I managed to bounce back pretty quick from the operation and now I'm just happy to be back.

"Injuries are part of the game but it was just the timing of it that was hard and the fact we were taking other players (to the World Cup), who had similar problems, probably went against me.

"That was something I had to take but I believe these things make me stronger in the end."

King is now set to lead his team out for the Uefa Cup clash against Slavia Prague, and he is looking forward to the occasion after being a substitute in Tottenham's last European encounter - against Kaiserslautern seven years ago.

"I remember travelling to Kaiserslautern and being on the bench," he recalled.

"At the time it was something that was going to happen regularly. You don't realise how tough we would find it to get back in but I am very proud to captain the side in Europe.

"It's a long season and it's not going so well at the moment but of course we like to think we can make Europe again."