NEC Nijmegen v Tottenham
Tottenham are without Ledley King (knee), Alan Hutton (foot), Luka Modric (groin) and Giovani dos Santos (ankle) for the Uefa Cup group game.
With Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka cup-tied, Harry Redknapp has picked a youthful squad.
Chris Gunter has been tipped to start, while youngsters John Bostock, Adam Smith, Yaser Kasim, John Obika and Ryan Mason have all travelled to Holland.
And midfielder Jermaine Jenas has joined them despite a toe injury.
Tottenham (from): Gomes, Cesar, Bale, Gunter, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Woodgate, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone, Jenas, Gilberto, O'Hara, Bostock, Smith, Kasim, Obika, Mason, Lennon, Bent, Campbell.
Hutton Faces Long Lay Off!
Injured Hutton faces long lay-off |
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Tottenham full-back Alan Hutton will be out for up to five months as he needs surgery on his fractured right foot. The 23-year-old Scotland international faces a long-term spell on the sidelines, says boss Harry Redknapp. Hutton picked up the injury at the start of the season but returned last month and played 90 minutes for Scotland against Argentina last week. "It's quite serious, it is certainly going to be a few months. It looks like it will be long term," said Redknapp.
Hutton underwent a scan at the start of the week and Spurs have confirmed that specialists have said the defender requires surgery that will keep him sidelined for up to five months. |
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Lennon For England
Lennon tipped for England recall |
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Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has tipped in-form winger Aaron Lennon to force his way back into the England squad. Lennon, 21, was in fine form in Sunday's 1-0 win over Blackburn, having struggled to start on a regular basis under former manager Juande Ramos. "If England coach Fabio Capello starts seeing him play like that, he'll get back in the picture," said Redknapp. "He was the wonderkid at the last World Cup, then went off radar. I think his confidence is coming back." England's next game will be a friendly away to Spain on 11 February, 2009, which will possibly be played in Valencia.
Redknapp added: "I had Theo Walcott when I was at Southampton, Walcott is young but so is Lennon. He's 21, only a kid.
Redknapp delighted to be off bottom of table
Lennon credited Redknapp with his improvement in form and admitted it was a relief to move out of the relegation zone. "I've been getting better and better since the new boss has come in and this was probably my best performance," said Lennon. "But it's not just me it's everyone in general, he's given us confidence and freedom to play. He's given me licence to get at people and that's my game really.
Meanwhile, Tottenham defender Alan Hutton will have a scan on his injured foot on Monday after missing Sunday's victory. Hutton missed the start of the season with the problem but has played for the last month, including 90 minutes in Scotland's 1-0 defeat by Argentina on Wednesday. Vedran Corluka, who played at right-back on Sunday, is cup-tied for the club's Uefa Cup trip to Nijmegen on Thursday, while skipper Ledley King will be rested. |
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Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp admitted that we
struggled to get going as we fell to the first defeat under his
management at Fulham.
The home side worked tirelessly to restrict our play and we found it difficult to match the level of our recent performances - form that had taken us to five wins and a draw in Harry's first six games.
That said, it took an unfortunate opening goal for Fulham to go ahead in the first half but it was hard to argue that they deserved to double their advantage when Andy Johnson struck from close range in the 70th minute.
Substitute Fraizer Campbell offered hope with a smart finish to make it 2-1 with 10 minutes left but there were no late heroics on this occasion.
"We started in second gear for some reason and didn't play with the same energy we've been playing with," reflected Harry at Craven Cottage. "There was no zip to us.
"There wasn't a lot happening early in the game but we didn't take the game to them as I expected.
"We then conceded a terrible goal just as we were starting to get some control. It was difficult. We weren't at our best, for sure.
"Credit to Fulham, they worked their socks off.
"We've done that in the first five or six games but this time we weren't quite as good. We have to pick ourselves up, we've Blackburn at home next week, another big game, we need to pick up points and get out of the bottom three."
under 18s
Ben Alnwick's
Tottenham Hotspur have opted against renewing
Ben Alnwick's loan spell at Carlisle United and the young keeper
will now aim to earn a place in Harry Redknapp’s plans.
Alnwich, 21, recently spent a month with Carlisle and conceded 14 goals in six games as The Cumbrians slipped to four defeats.
Carlisle manager Greg Abbott was impressed by the young shot stopper though and had been hoping to keep hold of Alnwick for a further two months after his loan deal expired at the weekend.
But with Spurs having major concerns over the form of current number one Heurelho Gomes, Alnwick will now stay in North London and seek to make an impression on Redknapp.
“It was important that any decision that was made was in the best interests of the player,” Abbott told the club’s official website.
“The coaching and management staff at Tottenham want to take a closer look at him, and it may open up an opportunity for him with them.
“We are happy to go along with that, as Ben obviously wants to show them what he is capable of.
“We thank Ben for his efforts over the course of the last four weeks. It has been a successfully stay with us and he is definitely still on our radar but, obviously, we wish him well with what he is trying to do with Spurs.”
Blackburn Rovers tickets available
Additional
tickets have been made available in the lower tier of the South
Stand for our home match against Blackburn Rovers this
Sunday.
Tickets are priced at £33.00 each and can be purchased online , over the phone on 0844 844 0102 or over the counter at the Paxton Road Ticket Office between 9.30am - 5.00pm Mon - Fri.
Kick Racism out of Football Poetry Competition
John Bostock was at White Hart
Lane stadium on Tuesday rewarding the winners of this
year's Kick Racism out of Football Poetry
Competition.
The competition was organised by the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, the Enfield Local Football Partnership, Enfield Town FC and Enfield Town Ladies FC, with support from the Enfield Race Equality Council, the London Borough of Enfield, Middlesex County FA and Enfield and Haringey Libraries, and was made open to primary and secondary school children throughout the two boroughs.
Participants were challenged to write poetry on the subject of Walter Tull, the first black outfield professional footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur between 1909 and 1911.
The young poets were invited to library workshops in Enfield and Haringey in order to do their research on Tull, who died serving as the first black officer in the British Army during World War One.
John, who on Thursday November 6 became our youngest ever player to play a competitive match at the age of 16 years, 295 days, handed out prizes to this year's winners.
He said: "The life of Walter Tull and the challenges he faced should act as an inspiration to us all, so it's extremely encouraging that the Club is encouraging children to learn more on the subject.
"And what better way than for them to write poetry and therefore express themselves creatively. I was happy to meet these budding poets!"
John was joined in the prize-giving by players from Enfield Town and Enfield Town Ladies Football Club.
As part of the day's celebrations, all participants got to take a tour of White Hart Lane stadium and learn a little more about the history of the Club.
watford cup date
Our Carling Cup quarter-final
against Watford has been selected for live television coverage by
Sky Sports and will take place on Wednesday December 3, kick-off
7.45pm.
The match will be settled on the night with extra time and penalties if required.
Spurs Ladies
Spurs
Ladies earned a 1-1 draw from their visit to Northampton Town in
the first of three consecutive meetings with the Midlands
side.
Goalkeeper Ricole Vyse was in a commanding form as the home side applied the early pressure.
A loose ball on the edge of the box was fired home by a Northampton forward to give Town a 1-0 lead, but Spurs felt aggrieved not to have a first half penalty when Alex Small was bundled over in the box.
The second half brought improvement and it wasn't long before Spurs were level when a goalmouth scramble resulted in the Northampton keeper spilling a low cross which fell to the feet of Kirsten Thomson (pictured), who accordingly put the ball hard and low into the right hand corner of the net to equalise.
The rest of the match was tense, although Spurs did come close when substitute Jessie Richards side-stepped the goalkeeper only to be intercepted by a Northampton defender who had tracked her run to deny her a winning goal.
In other results, the Under-11 side defeated Bedmond Ajax 2-0, while the Under-10 Whites ran out 1-0 winners over Enfield Rangers.
But perhaps the most exciting game of the weekend came at Under-14 level, where Laura Newby scored a dramatic late equaliser for Spurs at Harvesters to keep the sides locked together at the top of their league table.