Tottenham manager Martin Jol was satisfied with the performance of his team during the 3-1 victory over Wigan Athletic yesterday considering we had to to play in Europe a couple of days earlier.
“The Premiership is a tough league, at the end of the season the table does not lie and Wigan play a style which is very difficult to defend against.” said Jol.
“We are a footballing side, but our character came through today.
“We have the most points of the teams in the Uefa Cup, are in the Carling Cup quarter-finals and had a good win today. We can be pretty satisfied.”
Dimitar Berbatov was again on target in the UEFA Cup, this time against his former club Bayer Leverkusen.
The goal gave us a 1-0 win and saw us qualify for the next round of the competition.
I must say I am amazed that Berbatov is struggling to find his feet in the Premiership with his undoubted class but his European form keeps us smiling.
Boss Martin Jol was not that happy with the performance but was happy with the win.
He said: “When you have several chances and more situations where all we needed was a good final ball it is a disappointment.
“If Leverkusen had scored it would have been a disaster.
“We played as a team and played a bit better than them but you have to convert possibilities into goals.”
Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov has admitted feeling ’sick’ when he first heard that Tottenham would be facing his old club Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Cup.
Speaking ahead of the clash between the two sides, Berbatov said: “I was sick,”
“If I do score it will be strange but I’m a professional player and it doesn’t matter if they are my friends. Like usual, you raise your hands to show you have scored.
“I was happy that I was there and now I have a lot of other things to do, the game tomorrow and the games in the future with Tottenham.”
“I’m really happy to be back here (In Leverkusen) but I have a job to do - during the 90 minutes there are no friends.”
Bayer Leverkusen head Michael Skibbe has praised his former striker Dimitar Berbatov ahead of our UEFA CUP clash with the German club.
Skibbe said: “He’s one of the best strikers in the world.
“He’s got wonderful technique, is very good with his head, both feet are very fast and all the time he has an eye for players in better positions. He’s very special.”
Midfielder Hossam Ghaly will serve a three match ban after the FA rejected his appeal.
Blackburn Rovers also failed with an appeal for the red card Turkish midfielder Tugay was given for his foul on Ghaly during the same match last weekend.
Fiery midfielder Hossam Ghaly is confident we will win some silverware this season.
He said: “I have a good feeling for this season - I think we are going to win a trophy. We are doing really well and all the players are working from their heart.
“We are doing well in the Uefa Cup and have got some good results. I hope we can qualify and then think about the knockout stages.
“It would be a big achievement to win the Uefa Cup - it would be fantastic. Hopefully we can do that.
“It will be hard but we have beaten Chelsea in the Premiership this season and they are a very big team. We have got quality players in the squad and there’s no reason why we can’t go far.”
Martin Jol has defended his onfield actions during the Premiership fixture against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park where he appeared to be given to his marching orders by the referee.
“It is an emotional game and I think the referee was a bit emotional,” said Jol.
“All I wanted to do was protect my player.
“I said `you are totally wrong’ and he said `you can go as well’.