The Spurs Blog

Jermaine Jenas is confident we will bounce back from 3-1 loss away to Reading last weekend.

“It’s a strong league and anyone can beat anyone but for Spurs it is disappointing,” said Jenas.

“We’re looking to climb the table and have been on a good run of games, to go to Reading and lose was not something we expected.

“We’ve got the quality in the side, it’s not like we haven’t got the quality to do it.

“We’ve just got to buck up our ideas from the Reading game and go on that run. We beat Chelsea but lose against Reading so it doesn’t mean anything. So it was a bad one for us.

“You never go into games too confident, you pay respect to your opponents. But we were confident in our own ability and we can put it down to three sloppy goals we conceded.

“It’s up to us to bounce back in the next game and make sure we get a win and put all the wrongs right.”

Aaron Lennon has officially been ruled out of England’s friendly with Holland due to injury.

Lennon will join fellow Spurs Ledley King and Jermaine Jenas on the treatment table while Paul Robinson, Michael Dawson and Jermaine Defoe are all fit to take their place in the squad. 

England squad:

Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Tottenham), Ben Foster (Man Utd)

Defenders: Phil Neville (Everton), Micah Richards (Man City), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), John Terry (Chelsea), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Wes Brown (Man Utd), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea).

Midfield: Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Kieran Richardson (Man Utd).

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Andrew Johnson (Everton).

Jermaine Jenas has backed team-mate Paul Robinson to silence his critics when England take on Holland this week.

Jenas said: “Robbo’s a professional.

“He’s a strong character and I’m sure he’s blocked it out. It was a freak incident which happens.

“He picked himself up immediately. Not from now or from last week, he was over it straightaway and back training hard like he usually does.”

‘The Pitbull’ Edgar Davids is not happy with the lack of action he has seen this season.

He said:  “I am not happy,”

“It is very frustrating not playing regularly and when you feel as good as I do, you need to play.

“We train hard as a squad, but I do extra training and make use of all our facilities.

“I am still one of the fittest players on the team. The manager knows my capabilities and I think I have shown my hunger on the pitch.”

Martin Jol has decided not to bid for the services of former England skipper David Beckham.

Jol said: “Of course, I have a lot of respect for David Beckham, but I’ve never said I want to sign him,”

“We are fine here as it is. We already have Aaron Lennon. Beckham is a non-runner.”

Martin Jol was dissapointed with the performance of the team following the 3-1 defeat at the hands of Reading.

He said: “At half-time we wanted to put it right but you need personality and character,”

“It’s frustrating, you get angry a bit as well because you can do all the hard work and prepare yourself well.

“If we would have had a good result today everything would be fine - last eight of the Carling Cup, in the UEFA Cup and probably seventh in the league. And you throw it away.

“All credit to them because apart from Arsenal not many teams have won here in the last 12 or more months. But if you make those sort of mistakes you can’t win any game.

“So it is good to be back to earth with our feet on the ground and be the team we were before when we had a run of 10 games.”

Martin Jol has admitted we were lucky to advance through the tricky Carling Cup tie against Port Vale yesterday.

“Everybody expects you to go through to the next round, it’s the same as it always is,” said Jol.

“All the ingredients were there for an upset - they were organised with a good goalkeeper, they give you the initiative and that is not easy.

“But I felt home advantage was there. We kept believing in the second half and we had some outstanding performances. Luckily our quality probably gave us the edge.”

Martin Jol is likely to shuffle his big squad in order to rest regulars Ledley King, Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane for the Carling Cup match against Port Vale tonight.

Steed Malbranque is likely to make his debut, with Danny Murphy, Tom Huddlestone and Edgar Davids also in line to start the match.

Egyptian forward Mido is happy with the strength of our current squad.

He said: “The strikers are scoring again but the whole squad is doing well at the moment,”

“Not many teams have a squad like ours where so many players can come straight into the starting line-up and do a job.

“Against MK Dons, we had people like Reto Ziegler, Paul Stalteri and Anthony Gardner who came in and did really well and the manager knows he can call on all of us when needed and we will do a job for the team.”

Reports suggest that we are still looking at 18-year-old Standard Liege defender Marouane Fellaini.

The youngster, who has previously claimed that we contacted him during the Frank Arnesen era, is one of the most promising Belgian prospects.