All change, Ramos: Spurs boss rests his stars to rescue European dream

13 April 2012

Juande Ramos is set to rest key players for tomorrow's clash against West Ham to rescue his dream of a third successive UEFA Cup.

The Tottenham boss has been at the sharp end of the fierce Sevilla rivalry with Real Betis and, since arriving in North London, has dispensed of Arsenal and Chelsea en route to winning the Carling Cup, so he is no stranger to intense derbies.

Although a strong rivalry exists between Spurs and West Ham, Ramos is focused on next Wednesday and overturning his side's 1-0 defeat at the hands of PSV.

He said: 'I have to see how people recuperate, the injuries and those that are tired. I have to see who is in condition to play.

'I need to think about what is best for the club because there is a very important match in the UEFA Cup. The important thing is that those who play are 100 per cent.'

The Spaniard's planned rotation is likely to see starts for youngsters Jaime O'Hara and Chris Gunter on the wing and at left back respectively, while Alan Hutton is expected to return at right-back.

Skipper Ledley King will be rested to protect his troublesome knee, with Michael Dawson likely to partner Jonathan Woodgate at centre-back.

Jermaine Jenas was carried off with a sprained ankle on Thursday night and his place is likely to be handed to Tom Huddlestone. If Darren Bent has recovered from flu, Robbie Keane or Dimitar Berbatov will be given the afternoon off.

Ramos wants his player to refocus after two defeats in the wake of their success at Wembley. He said: 'We are trying not to relax but having won this trophy it is true that after that we have suffered two defeats. It is a fight that we are going to have with the team to ensure they give their all and maintain their intensity. We are still in two competitions and we need to focus on them.'

Meanwhile, Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni's £4.5million move to White Hart Lane has edged closer after Paco Herrera, the Spanish side's sporting director, admitted: 'I spoke with his representative and he told me that the approach he has received in the last month means that it would be difficult for us to prevent him leaving.'

West Ham boss Alan Curbishley, who hopes to have Scott Parker back for the visit to Spurs, has hit out at his own fans for their unrealistic expectations of their team.

Liverpool and Chelsea have inflicted 4-0 defeats on Curbishley's side in the past week, leading to chants of 'It's just like watching Charlton' from Hammers fans on Wednesday night.

The former Charlton boss said: 'I heard the West Ham fans singing "It's just like watching Charlton" but I didn't understand it. If they want to have a go at me then that's fine, but leave the players alone.

'When West Ham fans are unhappy they let everyone know. I don't need to agree with it and I think sometimes they need to be slightly more realistic.

'I think there has been criticism because we haven't scored enough goals and that's fine and the performances haven't been what they've wanted. But we've never gone out with the intention of being negative.

'I've been around long enough, previous managers have had similar situations and I think anybody coming into the job at West Ham understands that. It's not what I want but I'm used to it.'

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in