Tottenham Hotspur's Andre Villas-Boas hopeful over Jan Vertonghen injury

Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has remained hopeful over the injury that Jan Vertonghen suffered during Wednesday's defeat to Sunderland.

The defender was forced off after landing awkwardly as Spurs went down 3-1 in the semi-finals of the Barclays Asia Trophy in Hong Kong.

"It seems like he twisted his ankle, it could be sprained ankle ligaments," Villas-Boas told Sky Sports News.

"Hopefully there is not too much damage as he has a good range of movement still, but it is swollen a bit.

"We hope it is nothing very serious, the MRI scan is positive and he'll be back for the start of the season."

Tottenham return to action on Saturday when they face South China in a third-place playoff.