Dawson out for two months

Dawson was carried off on a stretcher during his side's European championship qualifier against Bulgaria after his leg collapsed horribly beneath him early in the second half.

The freak incident appeared similar to that which saw Michael Owen sidelined for almost a year during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

But scans showed Dawson's injury was not as serious as that, although he could be sidelined until the end of October.

The 26-year-old was released from the England squad and returned to Tottenham Hotspur before undergoing a scan.

A statement on Spurs' official website, www.tottenhamhotspur.com, read: "Scans today have revealed that Michael Dawson has sprained his left medial knee ligament and one of his left ankle ligaments.

"The defender has been withdrawn from the England squad after suffering the injuries during last night's 4-0 European Championship qualifying win against Bulgaria at Wembley and is expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks."

That timescale would see the defender miss between eight and 11 games for his club, including its opening two or three UEFA Champions League Group A matches against Werder Bremen, FC Twente and Inter Milan.

He will also sit out England's Euro 2012 qualifier in Switzerland on Tuesday evening (Wednesday morning AEST) and the 12 October Wembley clash against Montenegro.

After announcing Dawson had been released, the Football Association confirmed a replacement would not be called up for the Switzerland match in Basel.

With John Terry and Rio Ferdinand both injured anyway, there were not too many options for manager Fabio Capello.

And with Matthew Upson, Joleon Lescott and Gary Cahill already at the squad base in Watford, Capello feels he has enough strength at his disposal to decide who will partner Phil Jagielka.

Cahill made his international bow as Dawson's replacement, even though Upson and Lescott both have more international experience.

Cahill, 24, became the first Bolton Wanderers player to feature for England since Michael Ricketts and will hope to do better than the striker's single cap.

Given Jagielka was only making his fifth appearance, Capello may view Upson in particular as a safer option.

The West Ham United captain played in the matches against Slovenia and Germany at the World Cup, although he was dropped for last month's friendly win over Hungary.

Dawson's unfortunate injury certainly has the potential to be far more significant for Tottenham.

With the transfer window now closed until January, and a Champions League campaign featuring two encounters with holder Inter and starting with a tie against top German outfit Werder in 10 days' time, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp faces having to plug a sizeable hole in his squad.

Dawson has been a mainstay of his club's defence and, without him, even more will be asked of Ledley King's fragile body.