- Jul 27, 2004
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- #1
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Apologise for the thread being somewhat last minute but work has been a nightmare today and this is my first chance to get online today. Anyway not sure I really care about this match too much. I would like a win but I would take defeat if it guaranteed a victory on Sunday with that in mind hopefully we won't see King play tonight.
The Official Site Team News:
Tom Huddlestone is the only injured absentee from the squad preparing to face Udinese in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night.
The midfielder misses the trip to Italy for our first match in the group stages with a slight knee injury. "Tom is injured and it wasn't possible for him to come," confirmed Head Coach Juande Ramos at the Stadio Friuli. "He needs to rest."
Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka are ineligible for the UEFA Cup and have stayed in London.
Skysports.com Preview:
Tottenham will be seeking a morale-boosting victory when they take on Udinese in their opening Uefa Cup group game.
Spurs have endured their worst-ever start to a league campaign and are currently bottom of the table and without a win with just two points from eight games.
They have enjoyed more success in cup competitions and progressed past Wisla Krakow over two nervy legs in the first round of the Uefa Cup.
Juande Ramos has insisted that Europe remains as important to him as the Premier League, and another defeat in Italy on Thursday night would pile more pressure on the manager.
Ramos, who twice guided Sevilla to glory in the competition, will be without cup-tied duo Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka at the Stadio Friuli.
Tom Huddlestone has not travelled with the rest of the squad due to injury but Ledley King has made the trip and could feature.
Ramos may decide to make several changes following the 2-1 defeat to Stoke at the weekend and Fraizer Campbell is an option up front.
Giovani dos Santos will also hope to be given an opportunity as Ramos continues his search for the right formula in midfield.
Heurelho Gomes was in obvious discomfort at the Britannia Stadium but is expected to be fit to line up between the posts.
Udinese news
Udinese qualified for the Uefa Cup by finishing seventh in Serie A last season and made it past Borussia Dortmund on penalties in the first round.
However, they have been in fine form on the domestic front in recent weeks and are currently second in the Italian league.
Udinese have earned praise for their attacking brand of football and Simone Pepe and Fabio Quagliarella are once again set to lead the line against Spurs.
Pasquale Marino has vowed that his side will take the game to Spurs, saying: "We cannot sit back and wait for our opponents. We have seen that when we take that approach, we become a 'normal' side.
"That was all too clear when we played against Borussia Dortmund here and did not give the kind of performance we know we can.
"I want us to keep the tempo up and focus for 90 minutes, keeping hold of the ball and being as aggressive as possible."
Spartak Moscow, NEC Nijmegen and Dinamo Zagreb are the other three sides in Group D.
BBC Match Squads (take with a pinch of salt):
Tottenham Squad (from): Gomes, Cesar, Hutton, Bale, Gunter, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Woodgate, Zokora, Bentley, Jenas, Gilberto, Modric, O'Hara, Giovani, Bent, Campbell.
3
Right, that's enough fuel for this fixture, don't forget to check [thread=37924]Geez's Media Coverage Thread[/thread] for watching and listening options.
COME ON YOU SPURS!
[SIZE=-4]Lots of information courtesy of the BBC and SkySports[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-4]Don't forget to head over to SC's live chat during the game. For more info click the links below.[/SIZE]
http://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/index.php?page=sc_chat
http://embed.mibbit.com/?server=irc...ity&settings=8f877fda3b59f0190c39e4e1e0db2551
[SIZE=-4]Lots of information courtesy of the BBC and SkySports[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-4]Don't forget to head over to SC's live chat during the game. For more info click the links below.[/SIZE]
http://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/index.php?page=sc_chat
http://embed.mibbit.com/?server=irc...ity&settings=8f877fda3b59f0190c39e4e1e0db2551
