A knee ligament strain ends an unhappy week for the Cameroon international who was booed by fans and criticised for his performance against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Martin Jol admitted last week that Tottenham need a lot of luck in order to win the FA Cup this season. What he got was an inconsistent performance from his players who already had one eye on the quarter finals after sinking West Brom in the fourth round the week before.
Simon Davies, who came off the substitutes bench to help Spurs earn that victory, has seen Spurs come unstuck at critical times too often in the past. None of the wide players against Forest, including Davies, were focussed enough on Sunday’s task and now face a replay at the City Ground on Wednesday.
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"We've got the players and if we concentrate on one game at a time and win our home games we could do something this season," Davies told the official site.
The Welshman recalls the 2001/02 League Cup semi-final win against Chelsea that earned the club a place in the final at Cardiff that year as the only time Spurs have revealed their true potential.
"For the five years I've been here we always get to a certain level, but it's always about that next crucial game - if we win it, we're really in amongst it - but I've never won that game. Instead we end up focussing on the next one all the time," Davies added.
In the meantime, Spurs entertain Fulham in a must-win Premiership clash, if they can hold onto any realistic chance of finishing in the top six.
18-year-old Ziegler, who had an inspirational start to his English football career, came back into the Tottenham side to face West Brom and Forest in the cup after being out of action with a hamstring injury for three weeks. The Swiss youngster may need a little longer to make a full recovery but he is likely to sacrificed for Andy Reid who has only made one appearance since his arrival on January 31 owing to the fact the Irishman is cup-tied for the rest of the season.
Spurs quest for Europe on two fronts may have come sooner than planned. Injuries upset the team’s rhythm last month and new signings with scarce opportunity to settle in ahead of vital games, could undo Tottenham’s chances of qualifying for Europe this term.
None of the other big clubs spent freely in the recent transfer window because they have come to rely on maximum consistency at the end of the season. Martin Jol has too many selection constraints when it comes to preparing for important games, like the two coming up, and he has become increasingly unsure as to what players make up his strongest XI.