Reports have emerged this morning as yet another professional football player seems to have put his responsibilities as a gifted role model to the back of his mind. Tottenham club captain, Ledley King, has been caught up in a row over assault outside a night club.

The news comes just days after Arsenal striker, Nicolas Bendtner, went on a bit of a drinking session, but at least he put his hands up and said sorry to his club and the fans. King should do the same but this is just another story to go onto the pile of bad press that is linked to football’s stars.

The reason this is such a significant and big story is the fact that King not too long ago, came out in the press and stressed his determination and desire to improve and get back his England place ahead of the World Cup next year.

Despite all of the talent and ability that this Spurs legend possesses this is hardly the ideal preparation and build up for what will be an extremely important close season for King. Spurs manager, Harry Redknapp, is not going to be too pleased about the story and given the formidable reputation of Fabio Capello’s discipline regime with the national side, it is hardly going to sit well in his books either.

King would do well to cooperate with the authorities and get this matter put to bed as quickly as is possible. There is no speculation around the fact that he is likely to lose a bit of respect over the affair and he needs to decide whether his sporting ambitions are worth fighting for.

He is shooting himself in the foot because a great manager, like Capello, will have no qualms at all about picking maybe a less talented and experienced defender to play for England, if he expressed a greater desire and willingness to not let his personal life and actions get in the way.

When a player has so much potential to dominate the international scene you just do not expect stories of this kind to emerge. The same thing happened when Ashley Cole of Chelsea got into trouble for arguing with police. The only difference is that England and Chelsea do not have a better player in his position. Although this may not be an excuse for the way Cole acted, it means the implications in his professional life were a lot less likely.

King does not have this security and needs to rapidly wise up to the fact. Such stories lay a tint over the playing careers of these players. If King plays out of his skin and gets into the World Cup squad, Capello will always have a mark by his name and will have him watched by England spies to see if he misbehaves himself in South Africa.

What this means is, not just for King, for any professional player that gets into the news for all of the wrong reasons, he creates a record in the mind of all the people who will ultimately control his professional career. Although King may not think it at the time, the implications of this news could carry on for a long time to come.

Ledley King is one of those players that has been gifted to have been given more than enough talent and potential, but is plagued by a string of injuries that have meant he will never be able to fulfill his football dreams.

King has spoken this morning about his dream to make England’s World Cup squad for the 2010 tournament in South Africa. Although this may be a fairy tale story it is unlikely he will get anywhere near the squad by the time it is announced.

Two or three years back he was playing regularly for Spurs and was a fixture in the international side. His performances whenever he was handed the captain’s armband in a pressure situation were admirable and he genuinely looked like he could reach the levels of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry on a constant basis and make them sweat over their place in the side.

The problem is because of his health and bad run of injuries, his good runs were always temporarily halted, cancelling out any progression he had made and meaning this was just another case of a player taking one step forward and two steps back.

He said: “It’s a difficult situation, my priority first and foremost is always Spurs – with the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign going so well, there is a real opportunity to do something great on the international stage again.”

“Every player wants to play as much as possible, but I’ve long accepted the fact that it is not a privilege I have.”

The problem for King is that in all the time he has spent laying on the treatment table, someone else has stepped in and got ahead of him in the pecking order. In terms of the number of international matches between now and when the World Cup squad is announced, King realistically only has a small amount of time to make any impact.

This first means get his place back in the Spurs side, which has now been established since Harry Redknapp stepped in and took up the managerial position. He needs to do this quickly and have a good pre-season ahead of the next campaign to make sure he is starting when the first whistle is blown.

It is not all doom and gloom for King though and if things go his way he could have a good shot and replacing someone if they pick up a bad injury or fall away from the form that England boss, Fabio Capello, has now come to expect.

His first and main priority should be Spurs. When he is fit he personifies everything that Tottenham are about, the passion, the enthusiasm and the aggression. If he is a regular in the Spurs side at the start of the season then he has some hope. If he is playing well and gets the nod just after the turn of the new year then the dream may come true.

The problem is though that the odds are stacked well against him. For Ledley King to make the 2010 World Cup squad then he’ll have to do something very special.

The EPL is back in action with a full slate of games over the next two days after a weekend off for some teams due to FA Cup games.

Tuesday’s matches feature 15th place Sunderland at home to 10th place Fulham, a first vs worst battle, with league leaders Manchester United travelling to Birmingham to take on cellar dwellers West Brom, 12th place Portsmouth is hosting fourth place Aston Villa, and 16th place Tottenham has a huge clash at White Hart Lane against 19th spot Stoke City.

Spurs vs Stoke
Tottenham will be a new-look squad after several signings in the transfer window, however, midfielder Wilson Palacios is suspended for the match against Stoke. Goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, who just came over from Chelsea in a free transfer, could possibly start in net as first choice keeper Heurelho Gomes is struggling both in net and with a thigh injury. Former Spur Pascal Chimbonda, who was just reacquired from Sunderland, wasn’t registered in time to play.

On the injury front Jermaine Jenas (calf) and top scorer Darren Bent (groin) are back training, while Alan Hutton (foot), Ledley King (hamstring) and Jamie O’Hara (hip) are still out. However, Aaron Lennon (groin), Jonathan Woodgate (back) and Luka Modric (back/hamstring) will be game-time decisions

For Stoke, leading scorer Ricardo Fuller should be back after serving a three-game suspension for slapping team mate Andy Griffin. Defender Danny Higginbotham (calf) will be a game-time decision, while Salif Diao (calf), Mamady Sidibe (knee) and Andrew Davies (knee) are all out injured.

Spurs played on Saturday, losing 2-1 to Man United in the FA Cup. Both teams were winless in the last five league games.

Sunderland vs Fulham
Teemu Tainio is available for Sunderland after serving a one-match ban and George McCartney returns from a long-term foot injury.

For Fulham, Diomansy Kamara (knee) is still out injured.

Fulham beat non-league side Kettering 4-2 with two late goals in the Cup on Saturday, while Sunderland drew 0-0 with Blackburn. Both teams have one only one of their last five league games and Fulham hasn’t won on the road all season.

West Brom vs Man Utd
West Brom is missing captain and former Man Utd player Jonathan Greening after he injured his knee during Saturday’s FA Cup game with Burnley. The club already has four centre-backs injured with Abdoulaye Meite, Jonas Olsson, Leon Barnett and Neil Clement all on the shelf. Ten players in total are out with injuries.

Man United actually have more players on the sidelines with 12 on the injury list. Fabio (calf) and Danny Welbeck (ankle) were hurt in Saturday’s 2-1 Cup win over Spurs. Nani, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Rafael, and Patrice Evra are still out with injuries, while Anderson, Wayne Rooney, Jonny Evans and Ji-sung Park were also unavailable for Saturday’s game.

West Brom has won three of their last five, while Utd have won all five.

Portsmouth vs Aston Villa
Both teams could feature new signings as central midfielder Hayden Mullins and defender Pele could play for Portsmouth and striker Emile Heskey might see action for Villa.

Pompey is without injured players Papa Bouba Diop and Richard Hughes, but Younes Kaboul might return after missing five-weeks with a back injury. Moral seems to be pretty low, especially after being knocked out of the FA Cup at home to Swansea on Saturday.

For Aston Villa, defender Luke Young returns after missing Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Doncaster because of a one-game ban for receiving five bookings this season, but winger Ashley Young will miss the match as he serves the second game of a three-match suspension for a red card at Sunderland.

Potsmouth has only a draw to show for their last five league games while Villa has four wins and a draw.