Roman Pavlyuchenko must improve his command of English if he is to find his best form at Tottenham, according to the club's forwards coach Les Ferdinand.

Pavlyuchenko (right) has scored seven times in 15 matches since joining Spurs from Spartak Moscow in a £14million deal last summer, but has rarely shown the kind of form that saw him score three goals for Russia at Euro 2008.

The striker, who turns 27 on Monday, is having regular English lessons yet often relies on an interpreter to understand the instructions of the coaching staff and there have been reports today that Harry Redknapp may try to sell him in the January transfer window.

Former Spurs star Ferdinand also believes that Pavlyuchenko has suffered from comparisons with Dimitar Berbatov, who is set to return to White Hart Lane tomorrow with Manchester United for the first time since moving to Old Trafford for £30.75million.

"For me, it is important that Pavlyuchenko embraces the language as quickly as possible," said Ferdinand. "That will help him, his strike partner Darren Bent, and the rest of the team.

"We have to remember that he is still new to the League, and there are very few players who arrive from abroad and hit the ground running. Seven goals in 15 games is a good return.

"There are areas of his game that need to improve, so there is lots of work to be done. He has done well, but he is still in that period of adaptation that all players have.

"People expected Pavlyuchenko to come in and be exactly like Berbatov, and that has been the biggest problem for him."

Berbatov was known to be a difficult character while at Spurs, and, according to Pavlyuchenko's former coach Vladimir Fedotov, the Russian star has similar traits.

Fedotov, who was in charge of Spartak during the 2006-07 season, said: "His greatest problem is his mood. If it is good, he trains well, but if not, then he can become flaky. I hope he will get out of this habit in England.

"When I saw he was training badly, and didn't have the right spirit, I helped to find it. For me, he was easy to work with, as I knew his strengths and weaknesses."

Pavlyuchenko's mood will be bright if he retains his place in attack against United, although Bent is pushing for a recall after coming on in the 2-0 win over West Ham.

Skipper Ledley King is in a race against time to recover for the game. If the captain's knee problems are given the all-clear, Redknapp is likely to name an unchanged starting XI.

Berbatov, meanwhile, has a fitness battle of his own to be ready to return to his former London stomping ground.

The Bulgarian faces a late test to see if he has recovered from a knock to his Achilles tendon he took in last weekend's win over Sunderland.

Another former Spurs player, Michael Carrick is also struggling with a thigh injury. Both missed the 2-2 draw with Aalborg in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Definitely out are suspended pair Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney. Evra's absence means John O'Shea will continue in attack while Carlos Tevez will start in place of Rooney.