Tottenham are fearful midfielder Rafael van der Vaart could be sidelined until the new year with a hamstring injury.
The 28-year-old was substituted at half-time during Spurs' 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Thursday.
When asked if the Dutchman could be out beyond the end of 2011, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp replied: "Yes, it looks that way."
Spurs will also be without winger Aaron Lennon for "weeks" after he injured his hamstring against Sunderland.
Lennon, 24, was absent for Thursday's draw with Chelsea at White Hart Lane, which saw Emmanuel Adebayor give Tottenham the lead after only eight minutes before Daniel Sturridge equalised for the visitors.
"We had no one who could play wide right to give us the balance we needed," said Redknapp.
"When Aaron Lennon is not out there, we haven't really got a wide right player."
On Van der Vaart, Redknapp added: "He just seems to have a hamstring problem all the time. He is a great player but we need to keep him fit."
Winger Gareth Bale made a timely return to the Spurs side after missing the 1-0 win over Sunderland with a sprained ankle and provided the assist from which Adebayor opened the scoring.
Redknapp was not downbeat after the result, despite his side dropping two points that leaves them third in the table, seven points behind second-placed Manchester United.
"It was a good game of football and a fair result," added Redknapp. "They came back, we started great and murdered them for the first 25 minutes, but they came back strongly in the second half."
Tottenham's remaining fixtures this year are away games at Norwich and Swansea on 27 and 31 December respectively. Their first game of 2012 is a home game against West Brom on 3 January.