The Spurs Blog

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.”

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.

Uefa Cup hero Dimitar Berbatov says Champions Chelsea are just another team.

He said: “I do not worry also because in the game on Sunday we will play against 11 men no matter who they are,”

“It doesn’t matter that they are Chelsea - they have not got three legs.

“We will go, we will play and hopefully we will win.

“I am trying to show the Tottenham fans why the club bought me, to score goals.

“Hopefully in the future I can do the same.

“It will be a very different game against Chelsea but if we play as we did against Brugge, if we play like a team, then we have a good chance to win.

“We showed great spirit after they took the lead. Brugge are a very good team but we showed that we are better.

“We scored two magnificent goals and now we are thinking about Chelsea.

“It will be a difficult game but I am optimistic.”

Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov stared for Tottenham Hotspur as we came from a goal behind to defeat Club Brugge 3-1 in the UEFA Cup.

Berbatov scored two goals and set up a third for team-mate Robbie Keane as we made two from two in the group stages of the competition.

Tottenham Hotspur star Dimitar Berbatov was given a standing ovation from the Besiktas fans following his performance in the UEFA Cup.

Manager Martin Jol said: “To be applauded off the pitch by them is a mark of respect for my team — the Besiktas fans are terrific.“Dimitar showed real flashes of his quality and I thought we could have had more goals.“They just kept on singing their songs. It was wonderful to hear.

“Was that our best performance of the season? We played well in Prague against Slavia but yes that was better than that.

“Robbie Keane had three or four chances to score but the ball just wouldn’t run for him again.

“What was on our minds is no English team has lost here against Besiktas and we didn’t want to be the first.

“Overall we were just too strong for them even though I had to make a last-minute change and play Tom Huddlestone when Didier Zokora went down ill.

“When I was selecting my team I had one eye on the Sunday game against West Ham but I just had to play my best team tonight and it paid off.”

Besiktas boss Jean Tigana added: “We came up against a very good Tottenham team. They were strong and focused. Spurs were better than us — it was as simple as that.

“They showed a terrific attitude out here. Berbatov was terrific. He was very difficult for us to handle and he gave my centre-halves a tough time.

“When you have a player of his quality in your team it makes all the difference.”

“When we went ahead through Hossam Ghaly, I thought we would silence the crowd but I know now that it is impossible. 

Dimitar Berbatov looks set to be fined by the Bulgarian Football Union following comments he made regarding Vice President Iordan Lechkov.
 
Berbatov, who was responding to comments made by Lechkov regarding the effort of the players in a recent match said: “If he (Lechkov) thinks so, we should let him play.

Lechkov responded: “He will be fined for his remarks in accordance with the regulations.”

Martin Jol has admitted that Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov is still struggling with his groin injury and will more than likely miss the UEFA CUP fixture this week.

He said: “Berbatov still has a minor problem with his groin and he will do a test. But we still have 19 players with us so we will field our strongest team.

“Hossam Ghaly has got a groin injury so he stayed in London and Danny Murphy has a little calf problem, so he stayed at home as well.”

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has praised Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov.

He added: “Berbatov may prove a good signing for Tottenham. We watched him quite a bit at Bayer Leverkusen and he’s a really good player.

Martin Jol has confirmed that Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov injured himself while representing his country and could be ruled out of the upcoming fixture against Manchester United.

Jol said: “Unfortunately, Dimitar got injured in the Bulgaria match,”

“He has come back and cannot play in the next game for his country on Wednesday. He will have treatment here and will hopefully be fit for Saturday’s game against Manchester United.”

Berbatov reportedly said: “I still don’t know exactly how long I’ll remain out but perhaps it’ll be 10 days to two weeks.”

Dimitar Berbatov has reflected on the disappointing 2-0 opening day defeat away at Bolton and promised an improved performance against Sheffield United.

He said: “Bolton are a strong, physical team. We have seen the first goal in the changing room and it is clear there was a foul against us,”

“We didn’t play well and we will need to play better in the next game.

“We knew how they would play, we tried to counter it, but unfortunately it didn’t happen for us.

“They fought the whole time and we were not strong enough on the day, but our second game will be better.”