Les Ferdinand tips misfiring Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe to find form and net first league goal of the season

Jermain Defoe, Tottenham (Getty Images)

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Jermain Defoe has been backed to get in among the goals by former Tottenham star Les Ferdinand after failing to hit the back of the net in the Premier League this season for Spurs.

The England international has been beset by injury problems this campaign, with his last goal coming two months ago against Charlton in then FA Cup, and has yet to get going in the league despite making 13 appearances.

The former West Ham forward netted an impressive 28 goals in all competitions last season, and Ferdinand, who himself was a prolific scorer and now works with Tottenham’s strikers, believes it it is only a matter of time before Defoe hits a purple patch.

He told Sky Sports News: “There is a lot of rotation going on these days so players are in and out of the side and they are looking for that level of consistency and once you get that first goal you tend to go on a run.”

The 28-year-old picked up an ankle injury while on England duty before the turn of the year, and that setback, as well as an adjusted shape to accommodate Rafael van der Vaart in Spurs’ setup, has restricted the striker’s number of appearances and seen him notch just five goals this term.

“People have talked about Jermain Defoe not scoring many goals this season but he was out for three months,” Ferdinand continued.

“He struggled to find his groove again like Wayne Rooney struggled for most of the season, then all of a sudden he scored and went on a run. That’s what happens to strikers.”

Defoe is not the only Spurs striker misfiring this season, with Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko yet to reach double figures, and the onus has shifted to Van der Vaart and Gareth Bale to get the goals that have kept Tottenham in the hunt for Champions League football next season.

Ferdinand added: “We are not too worried about it because the rest of the team are scoring and as long as the rest of the team are scoring then the team will win games.”