Tottenham's Scott Parker ruled out for first month of the season

Scott Parker has been ruled out of at least the season's opening month, after undergoing surgery to the achilles tendon in his right foot that has troubled him since the end of the previous campaign. Tottenham Hotspur confirmed that the midfielder saw the surgeon on Wednesday and he was "expected to return to training after the international break in September". Those fixtures conclude on 11 September and it would be difficult to see Parker coming straight into contention for André Villas-Boas's team. A first-team return in October is more realistic. Villas-Boas had expected Parker to need the operation but the news is nonetheless a setback to him, as he prepares for the first match of the season at Newcastle United on Saturday week. The club's key midfielder Luka Modric remains in exile as he awaits developments on the transfer he is seeking to Real Madrid while Sandro has not yet trained under Villas-Boas at Tottenham due to his involvement at the Olympic Games with Brazil and he will not do so until next week at the earliest. Brazil face Mexico in Saturday's final. Modric did not travel with the Tottenham squad to Spain for Thursday night's friendly against Valencia and Villas-Boas will need to assess his state of mind before deciding whether to include him at Newcastle. The signs are not positive. Villas-Boas's other options in central midfield are Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Jake Livermore and the new signing Gylfi Sigurdsson. Parker's last action came in England's Euro 2012 quarter-final loss to Italy on 24 June – he was forced off in extra-time – and it is a curiosity that six and a half weeks have been allowed to pass before the surgery.