It has been a long and arduous campaign for Tottenham Hotspur defender Michael Dawson. The English defender featured in Tottenhams two opening matches of the season before succumbing to an achilles injury. Dawson had surgery in November, but now, finally, has returned to full training, according to the Tottenham Hotspur website.

It's uncertain how long it will take for Dawson to return to first-team action with Spurs, but I would expect the club to arrange a reserves fixture so that Dawson can get some minutes in on the pitch. Barring any setbacks Tottenham's match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on January 14th might be a realistic target for Dawson's return.

Spurs could certainly use Dawson's experience at the back, but his injury has given some more playing time to Younes Kaboul who has proved to be excellent thus far. With Dawson's return Tottenham have 5 capable central defenders (yes, that includes Sebastien Bassong) which should help in keep Spurs in the top four.