- Jul 27, 2004
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- Staff
- #1
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Well due to the kick off time I am still going to be a work and won't be able to watch the game but, I am confident of a spurs win in Ramos' first european game in charge.
The Official Site Team News:
Juande Ramos reports no further injuries ahead of Thursday night's UEFA Cup group stage match against Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Speaking after Wednesday night's training session at the Bloomfield Stadium, Head Coach Juande said the list of players sidelined - coincidentally, all in defence - remained the same as for last weekend's trip to Middlesbrough.
That means Gareth Bale, Anthony Gardner, Ricardo Rocha (all with ankle injuries), Ledley King and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (both knee injuries) all miss out in Israel.
It's the second of our group stage matches in the competition with Aalborg and Anderlecht still to come.
Setanta Sport Preview:
Two-time Uefa Cup winners Tottenham travel to Tel Aviv on Thursday looking to reverse a poor start to their European campaign which has mirrored their league woes.
Having only played one game in Group G there is still time to turn thing around, but they have only three game in which to do so, starting with Hapoel.
Spurs lost their opening game at home to Getafe two weeks ago on an evening which proved surreal for fans inside White Hart Lane as news leaked out of Martin Jol’s exit, and the Hapoel game will see Juande Ramos reacquaint himself with the tournament he has become synonymous with over the past two seasons.
Hapoel lost their first game of the group stage 2-0 at Anderlecht so will also be looking to get their campaign underway against a side they have never faced in European competition.
Guy Luzon’s side do have form against English clubs though – they knocked Chelsea out of the second round of the competition in 2001-02, becoming the first Israeli club to reach the third round in the process.
Paul Robinson faced Hapoel in the 2002-03 season when he played in the Uefa Cup for Leeds, conceding just once over two legs.
“We won 5-1 on aggregate but Hapoel Tel Aviv were a decent team, hard working and it was a tough game for us,” the England international told Spurs’ official website.
“They are struggling at the wrong end of the table and I don’t think they’ve won a game this season, but it will be tough out there.
“They love their football out there, they are passionate and they also love their Premier League football, so they’ll know all about us.
“I’m sure it will be a great atmosphere and hopefully we’ll get a win. We’ve got off to a poor start in the group and need to put it right. We have the games to do it and if we win them, we’ll go through to the next stage.”
Gareth Bale has failed to recover from a foot problem in time, while Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Ledley King are still two weeks away from returning from knee injuries.
Anthony Gardner picked up an ankle sprain in the Getafe game and is not expected to return until early December, while Ricardo Rocha is a long-term lay-off.
Prediction: 1-2
BBC Match Squads (take with a pinch of salt):
Tottenham Squad (from): Robinson, Cerny, Chimbonda, Stalteri, Lee, Kaboul, Dawson, Tainio, Jenas, Zokora, Lennon, Malbranque, Boateng, Huddlestone, Taarabt, Routledge, Bent, Defoe, Berbatov, Keane.
Team:
3
Right, that's enough fuel for this fixture, don't forget to check [thread=22770]Geez's Media Coverage Thread[/thread] for watching and listening options.
COME ON YOU SPURS!
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