Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp

A vomiting virus has swept through the Tottenham Hotspur squad, affecting two first team players and forcing the part closure of the club's training ground this morning.

The outbreak, which is thought to have begun on Tuesday, spread quickly through the club's administrative staff and academy players before moving on to the first team. Vedran Æorluka was forced out of the FA Cup fifth round replay against Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday but Harry Redknapp, the manager, hopes that the defender will recover to play against Everton on Sunday.

Wilson Palacios has also been struck down by the virus but at this stage it remains unclear if any more of the first team squad have been affected. Redknapp said he expected to know more once the players reported for training today.

Several journalists, members of the club’s media department team and office staff have been hit by the virus which is believed to take about 48 hours to pass. Redknapp confirmed the news at his press conference today, which had to be moved to White Hart Lane due to the outbreak. The Tottenham manager said that although the squad would return to the Chigwell facility today, the players will not be allowed to enter the buildings.

“We have this virus problem at the training ground and we've closed it down,” Redknapp said. “We are going to train there but everything else is off limits - the offices and the cafeteria. There will be no food or anything. We are just going to go in and train and then get out of there. We had a few down with it the other day. Corluka had the virus and Palacios was not feeling great with it either.

"It has swept through the Academy. About 18 who either work there or the kids themselves have all got it, so the doctor decided we couldn't use it. We are still going to train there but just get into the changing rooms, get out on the pitch, shower and get out of there. Other than that it's closed down there completely.

"It hasn't disrupted us, we are still training as normal and hopefully no-one else gets it but there have been so many other people who have gone down with it, including a few of the Press boys who came over on Tuesday, it is certainly spreading.”

In 2006, the Tottenham squad was struck down by a similar bug before the final game of the season against Arsenal. Tests later showed a virus passed through the team. Tottenham lost the subsequent match against West Ham United, allowing Arsenal to leapfrog them into the final Champions League place. The hotel was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Tottenham added in a statement today: "A number of scholars and several first team players have reported feeling unwell and, as a precaution, are being kept away from the training ground for a period of 48 hours in order to avoid the risk of spread. As an additional precaution, the Club has undertaken a comprehensive deep clean of the entire training ground's facilities while all administrative and academy staff have been instructed to work from home until Monday."