MANCHESTER: Everton striker Louis Saha (above) escaped unharmed from a car crash on the outskirts of Manchester.

The 32-year-old was driving his blue Ferrari 458 on the A538 Altrincham Road in Wilmslow when he lost control and collided with a fence.

The Frenchman, who was alone in the vehicle, was unhurt and no other vehicles were involved.

Saha, who left Manchester United for Everton in 2008, played in the Toffees' 2-0 home win over Sunderland last Saturday.

Despite being troubled by a hamstring problem during that game, Saha is expected to be in contention for the FA Cup fifthround home clash against Reading tomorrow (3.30am).

Referring to the player's injury problems in the past, Everton boss David Moyes joked: "Incredibly, he has no injuries from it!

"I don't know much about it. I only just got told this morning. I couldn't tell you much, but he is okay."

The accident happened near the tunnel under Manchester airport where former United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo also crashed his Ferrari in January 2009.

A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said: "At 8.54pm last night police were called to Altrincham Road, Wilmslow, to the report of a single vehicle road traffic collision.

"Officers attended the scene where a blue Ferrari 458 had collided with a fence outside the tunnel.

"The 32-year-old driver was uninjured. Inquiries are continuing."

LONDON: Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe (pic) will return to training later this week after receiving the all-clear following an ankle scare.

When manager Harry Redknapp initially revealed Defoe had suffered an injury during the club's warm-weather training camp in Dubai last Sunday, it was feared he would face a spell on the sidelines.

However, Spurs now said the England international had been scanned and no significant damage was detected.

"Defoe will return to training on the squad's return home this week after undergoing X-rays on his foot following his participation in today's session," read a statement from Spurs' website.

"The X-rays were clear and the striker is expected to rest tomorrow as a precaution to allow any possible soft tissue irritation to settle."

Defoe broke down during a session in Al Ahli's Rashid Stadium where Spurs were training as part of their five-day break between matches.

The worst-case scenario was that the injury would be a repeat of the ankle ligament damage which ruled Defoe out for eight weeks following England's 3-1 win over Switzerland last September.

He has yet to score in the Premier League this season but Redknapp would not want to lose any more players to injury.

"We're trying to finish in the top four and it's so close. But we've got so many players injured, people forget," said Redknapp.

"We've got Tom Huddlestone, Younes Kaboul, Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate, Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart. If you could pick a team of injured players it would be a fantastic team."

Spurs will return to England today — ahead of their Premier League match at Wolves on Sunday.

Another of the club's injured players, rightback Vedran Corluka, is expected to be out for two months, which will give Alan Hutton a chance to stake his claim to be the club's first-choice once more.

The Scot's last game for Spurs came a month ago when he needlessly barged into Clint Dempsey in the penalty box to gift Fulham their second goal in the Cottagers' 4-0 rout over their neighbours in the FA Cup.

Hutton was said to have had a dressing-room bust-up with Redknapp following the match at Craven Cottage, but Redknapp insists he has not fallen out with the former Rangers man.

"Hutton had a groin strain, but he's fit now. I changed it after Fulham; I brought Corluka back in and we went and won four games on the spin, went to AC Milan and won. But that's football — now Corluka is injured — so Hutton's got a chance to get back in the team."