Kanoute out of opening game

Freddie Kanoute today officially ruled himself out of Tottenham's Premiership opener against Birmingham.

The Frenchman was injured just one hour into his first training session with the club following his £4million move from West Ham last week.

Although Kanoute is now back in training following a groin strain, the player says he will not be fit enough to play against City on Saturday.

"It was difficult because I got injured straight away," Kanoute said. "But it's getting better and hopefully I'll be back for the Leeds game."

Meanwhile, defender Dean Richards has been told he will not need surgery on his achilles problem unless he breaks down again. Richards did not play any part in Spurs' pre-season preparations and is a major doubt for the game at St Andrews. He has undergone treatment in Germany in a bid to solve the problem and is now back in training.

He said: "I'm running and it feels much better now. I had some treatment in Germany and I'm hoping that's done the trick. The worst-case scenario if it hadn't started healing was surgery and that would have been at least 12 weeks out."

Defender Ledley King is also likely to be unavailable for the game at Birmingham.

Spurs were today linked with a move for Perugia's Brazilian full-back Ze Maria.