The 27-year-old centre-back has played 10 times this season and will not feature in the remaining games of the campaign as he looks to fully recover from his knee problem.

Surgery in the last two summers sparked rumours surrounding King's long-term fitness prospects. He has recently been receiving medical advice on how to deal with the injury.

"I'm not retiring, let's put it that way," King said.

"I've read a lot of stories about my situation over the last few weeks but I honestly believe that when I do finally get it all right there won't be any more problems in the future."

King revealed he was carrying the injury for a "few seasons" before going under the knife.

After returning to action at Christmas, he suffered inflammation to his knee after games meaning he would often need to stagger his games to rest the injury.

He did manage to feature in the Carling Cup final victory over Chelsea.

"I'm not sure exactly when I'll be back playing twice a week again," he told Sport magazine. "Now my main aim is to prepare myself for next season and do everything possible to ensure that I don't have any problems next year."

King still goes to as many Spurs games as possible when sidelined and he is expected to be at White Hart Lane when Middlesbrough visit this weekend.

Robbie Keane, who stands in as captain when King is unavailable, is set to make his 250th appearance for Spurs.

"You never know about these things yourself until people tell you, and it's a great privilege to play 250 games for Tottenham," said Keane. "It's a good achievement and hopefully there will be many more to come.

"There have been a few milestones this season - 100 goals, 250 games - so far it has been a good season for me personally and winning a trophy capped it off."

Keane had short spells at Coventry, Inter Milan and Leeds before settling at Spurs, and he now sees his long-term future at the club.

"I feel at home, I've always said that from day one," he said on Spurs TV Online. "It's where I want to be and it's a club going in the right direction. I want to be a part of it and stay here as long as I can.

"Everyone around the place makes me feel welcome and as long as there is that I will always we part of it. The fans are so important as well. I've been lucky because they have always been good to me."

He and Dimitar Berbatov have 44 goals between them this season, and Keane added: "There are five games left and hopefully we can get to 50 between us."

Berbatov continues to be linked with clubs in the Champions League but skipper King believes the striker could stay at Spurs.

King said: "It goes without saying that you don't want to lose your top players and I think us having just won a trophy might just give him the belief that we might be going places."

Berbatov feels the club can aim for a place in the top four of the Barclays Premier League.

"We must always aim to do that," Berbatov said.

"The start of this season was difficult, but we have hope for next season. Winning the (Carling) Cup this year has given us hope."