Lee, the 29-year-old South Korea full-back, suffered ligament damage to his left knee during the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final to Sevilla and has been ruled out for up to three months after seeing a specialist on Friday.

"It's a shame for Young-Pyo," said Jol. "He's having surgery and will be out for the rest of the season and a big part of May and June as well.

"Hopefully he'll be back in July for our pre-season preparations but as it stands, he'll be out for two and a half to three months."

Lee's injury means Jol will be short on numbers in defence for the remaining five Premiership games of the season.

Anthony Gardner and Benoit Assou-Ekotto are on the sidelines, while King is just returning from feet problems after more than three months out.

The Spurs skipper played in the second leg against Sevilla, a 2-2 draw which saw the Spanish side win on aggregate, but missed the weekend trip to Wigan.

Jol, however, insists King's absence at the JJB Stadium was merely a precaution and he could feature against the Gunners at White Hart Lane on Saturday if there is no further reaction.

"I couldn't take a risk with him playing twice in three days because he still had a bit of pain on Thursday," said Jol on club website www.tottenhamhotspur.com.

"I would have liked him to have played but it was better not to."

Spurs came from behind three times against relegation-haunted Wigan, maintaining their impressive record on the weekends following European games.

They are in the hunt for a top-seven finish which would ensure UEFA Cup football again and full-back Pascal Chimbonda has called for a final push of a gruelling season where Spurs have reached the latter stages of three knockout competitions.

He told the London Evening Standard: "We are all feeling tired. We have worked hard all season and we deserve reward for it, but it finishes on May 13 so there is a lot more hard work to do."