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We don’t play again until Monday night at Upton Park so I got out my slide rule to see how our Wafer Cup Group D could turn out.

On the night of December 18, the following two matches will be played at the same time…

The way things stand in our group, it is still possible for us to finish first and get a good seeding in the Last 32.

The ONLY way that can happen is if we win and Udinese lose. Doesn’t matter about goal difference in this case. If we win AND they lose, we finish first.

If we draw with Spartak, we at least clinch second spot, though that has its downside in that we must then face one of the “parachute” teams from the Champions League.

Now…to the interesting part. Well, some may find it interesting, others may get a splitting headache!!!

There are circumstances by which we can finish fourth in the group and thus be eliminated from the competition.

They involve both us losing AND NEC beating the Italians, but only in certain ways.

So as you can see, although it is possible for us to get knocked out, it is highly unlikely, so here’s hoping Spurs fans WON'T have to revert back to this post close to full time on the night!!!

taken from my blog "...and STILL Ricky Villa!!!"

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.

 

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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.

Injured Hutton faces long lay-off

Hutton was out for eight months with a broken leg when with Rangers in 2005 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. "It's the same injury that kept him out at the start of the year and they decided not to operate and it seems to have flared up again." 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.

Lennon tipped for England recall

Lennon (left) was in rampaging form against Blackburn on Sunday 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. I've been getting better and better since the new boss has come in Spurs winger Aaron Lennon Lennon ran rings around Blackburn left-back Martin Olsson at White Hart Lane, causing the Swede to pick up two yellow cards as he was dismissed before the break and setting up Roman Pavlyuchenko's winner. 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 "There is nothing to stop him because there are not many wingers around who can do what he does. He is exciting, he carries the game forward for us."   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. 606: DEBATE Good to see the man Lennon playing with some form today themodfather "It's been a hard start to the season and now we're glad to get out of the bottom three again. Hopefully we can carry on and push up the table now." 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.

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."

Our Under-18s made it 15 goals in three games in the FA Premier Academy League with another five-star victory on Saturday. The table-toppers followed up a 6-0 win against MK Dons and 4-0 win at Watford with a 5-0 victory against Birmingham City at Spurs Lodge. Ryan Mason (pictured) led the way with two goals with John Bostock, Jonathan Obika and Nathan Byrne also on target. The lads have now won seven of their last eight matches in the FAPAL and remain top of Group B - Birmingham were fourth at start of play. "We played really well," reported coach Alex Inglethorpe. "John Bostock opened the scoring with a goal from outside the box and Ryan Mason made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after Jonathan Obika was brought down. "Nathan Byrne grabbed the third with a good finish at the far post and that was the score at half-time. "We controlled the second half and created plenty of chances. "The fourth goal was a great team goal that ended with Sam Cox crossing for Jon Obika and Ryan Mason completed the scoring." Spurs U18s: Butler, Smith, Cox, Kasim, Caulker, Butcher (Nicholson, 70), M'poku (Byrne, 30), Bostock, Obika (Ekim, 70), Mason, Townsend. Unused subs: Ranieri, Jack.

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.”

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.

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.