But Villas-Boas said Defoe had undergone scans and had a plasma injection to allow him to be fit for the Barclays Premier League trip to Norwich tonight.

When asked about the extent of Defoe’s injury, Villas-Boas said: “He felt some tightness. It was a grade one injury to his obturator muscle which was treated immediately.

“We acknowledged that resting him for Leeds was almost compulsory so we left him out of the game and he has made an excellent recovery so he is back.

“In muscle injuries there is always a risk of it showing up again, but the medical department feel positive about it and the player is positive and he knows his body well.”

Villas-Boas revealed Spurs are keen to use such innovations to the benefit of their players and ruled out the need for 30-year-old Defoe to need an operation and miss a large chunk of the season.

“We believe a lot in growth factor treatment and plasma platelet treatments,” he said. “It is a technique that we have been using since the beginning of the season.

“It is not common but does happen from club to club. The player adhered to the treatment very, very well so we can move forward.

“You take out the blood from any part of the body and spin it around. The plasma comes to the top of the blood and you are able to inject it back into the body and that is the part of the blood that heals injuries. It accelerates the recovery process.

“The day he felt the injury was Friday and he had the injection thing. Now he is available for selection. That is the remarkable thing.”

With both Defoe and Adebayor missing at Leeds, Villas-Boas could have been forgiven for jumping straight into the transfer market for another forward to bolster his attacking options.

Germany international Lewis Holtby has joined for £1.5m after originally agreeing to a move to White Hart Lane in the summer when his contract at Schalke was due to expire.

Holtby’s arrival could be the only signing Spurs make between now and the close of the window, despite the re-emergence of interest in Internacional striker Leandro Damiao and, although he acknowledges the danger of not adding to his squad, Villas-Boas is pleased to continue with Defoe and Adebayor.

“We’ve told you that there is a certain risk involved,” he said. “The risk involved obviously took Jermain out of the game against Leeds. I’ve told you also that it’s not impossible that the club and ourselves might think about the striker position.

“We’ve strengthened in some way our attacking options with Lewis Holtby, [although he’s] obviously not a pure striker. We’re still with two pure strikers and Clint Dempsey, who we believe can fulfil that position. At the moment, it’s a risk that we took.”

Holtby will go straight into the squad for the trip to Norwich, where Defoe is likely to return to a Spurs side who currently sit fourth in the table with a three-point gap back to Everton in fifth.