Jermain Defoe wants to go under the knife having helped Tottenham reach the Champions League group stage for the first time.

Defoe will have groin surgery on Tuesday and is set to be out for between two and four weeks, missing England's European Championship qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland and possibly Spurs' Premier League games against West Brom and Wolves.

The 27-year-old has been dogged by the problem since the World Cup and his playing time has become gradually more restricted since.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp had hoped to schedule the striker's operation for last Thursday but the German surgeon the club want to perform the procedure was unavailable until next week.

The delay has allowed Defoe to play a part in what he has described as "one of the biggest games of my career": Wednesday's Champions League play-off round second leg against Young Boys.

"Everyone's looking forward to it," he said.

"We worked so hard to get here and we want to make the most of it and win the game, and get through to the group stage."