Ledley King today vowed to recover in record time so he can mark former team-mate Dimitar Berbatov on Saturday after inspiring Tottenham to a 2-0 win at West Ham last night.

King's chronic knee problems mean he can play only one game a week, and there are just five days until Berbatov returns to White Hart Lane with Manchester United for the first time since his controversial £30.75million transfer in the summer.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp revealed King had pulled out of Sunday's training session after just 15 minutes, but the 28-year-old returned to produce a superb display at Upton Park, which he crowned by scoring his first goal for the club for three years.

And although Redknapp believes King is "doubtful" for the United game, his captain is confident he can recover to do battle with Berbatov, who moved to United after two seasons with Spurs.

King said: "I probably won't train between now and Saturday. I miss a lot of training, but until the match comes along, I won't be counted out. I have niggles, but I just leave it and wait for the day. I have no problem doing that.

"Of course I am desperate to face United, because I want to be involved in all the big games. It is a shorter week than normal for me, with the West Ham game being on a Monday night, but I will do my best to prepare and hopefully I will be available.

"Dimitar Berbatov was brilliant for the club, and he was a fans' favourite, but hopefully we can keep him quiet on Saturday.

"There will be no animosity between us. We will say hello to him and shake his hand but once we are on the pitch, we have a job to do. It happens a lot that you face your former teammates, and I am used to playing against people I know, so facing Dimitar won't be an issue."

King put Spurs in front after 68 minutes when he headed in Aaron Lennon's cross for his first goal since scoring in a 3-1 win over Portsmouth - then managed by Redknapp - on 12 December 2005.

Substitute Jamie O'Hara sealed a deserved win for Spurs to lift them three points clear of the relegation zone, following a second-half display in which King, Lennon, Didier Zokora and Luka Modric were all outstanding.

It was also Spurs's third clean sheet in Redknapp's eight games in charge in the League, and King continued: "We haven't been keeping enough clean sheets, especially in tight games where neither team creates too much.

"In our defeats against Everton and Fulham, they scored the first goal and that was crucial, but against West Ham we were able to reverse the roles. It was one of our best performances of the season."