Danny Rose loan to Watford

Courtesy of Official Site-

Danny Rose has joined Championship side Watford on loan for the rest of the season.

The attacking midfielder, 18, has recently returned from a long-term knee injury that ruled him out from September until March and has impressed in our last two reserve wins against Chelsea and West Brom.

An England youth regular, Danny joined us from Leeds United in July, 2007 and played 10 games for the reserves last season, scoring once.

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League Report: Spurs 1 Chelsea 0

Courtesy of Official Site-

Luka Modric struck the only goal of the game as victory over London rivals Chelsea at The Lane takes us into the top half of the Barclays Premier League for the first time this season.

On a blazing hot and memorable day at the Spurs, we performed outstandingly against Guus Hiddink's side to stretch our run to six games unbeaten in the league.

Not only that, but the result puts a serious dent in the title hopes of the Blues, who have now failed to beat us in the last four attempts.

Harry Redknapp stuck with the team that featured for the majority of our impressive win at Aston Villa last weekend, with Vedran Corluka starting at right-back this time in place of Didier Zokora.

With the sun shining, there was a great atmosphere at The Lane for this derby clash and a tempo to match from the off.

The in-form Michael Essien did force Heurelho Gomes into an eighth minute save, but it's fair to say we had the better of the first half overall.

A minute later, Corluka's cross was cleared only as far as Jenas, who hit a ferocious shot from the edge of the box just inches over the bar.

On 18 minutes, Darren Bent climbed high to flick on Gomes' goal-kick, and as the bounce deceived Chelsea defender Alex, Robbie Keane ran in behind to hit a stinging volley first time, which Petr Cech did well to stand up to.

Keane tested the Czech goalkeeper again on 25 minutes with another first time shot from the edge of the box after good work from Corluka on the right.

Gomes was called into action only once more in the opening 45, turning Nicolas Anelka's 33rd minute shot around the post.

We finished the half the stronger side, and Keane once again got a sighting at goal seven minutes from the break after a 40-yard run into the box. He just failed to curl his attempt past Cech.

But you sensed there would be more chances to come into the second half, and we didn't have to wait long before our pressure paid dividends.

Aaron Lennon, fresh from putting pen to paper on a new contract the day before, attacked Ashley Cole before sending a pin-point ball into the box for Modric to sweep home first-time into the bottom right-hand corner.

It was the Croatian's fourth goal of this his first season in English football, and no more than the little man deserves for his outstanding performances in recent weeks.

A bumper home crowd at The Lane was now in full voice, and they were so nearly treated to a carbon copy of the goal on 59 minutes.

Keane picked out Lennon with a pinpoint crossfield ball, and the flying winger once again attacked his man before putting the ball into box. This time Modric tried to catch it on the volley - it would have been spectacular, but he didn't properly connect, and the ball fell safely into the hands of Cech.

Once Chelsea settled, a touch of panic, it is fair to say, maybe crept into our game, and we came under a spell of pressure.

Portuguese international Ricardo Quaresma was introduced by the visitors to add some width, and it took some good defending from Corluka to deny Frank Lampard at the back post following his 64th minute cross.

Didier Drogba then forced Gomes into a near post save, and we found ourselves constantly having to defend set-pieces.

Although Keane sent a fantastic 25-yard effort just wide on 71 minutes, it was left to our Brazilian goalkeeper to claim the plaudits for keeping our lead intact 11 minutes from time.

Lampard found John Terry with a free-kick, and his powerful downward header looked destined for the bottom corner before Gomes dived full stretch to turn wide with a splendid reaction save.

It follows on from what the big man described as his best performances in a Spurs shirt last week, and he now looks full of confidence after a difficult first season at times.

From that save, we could, and perhaps should, have doubled our lead when Modric broke away and played in Lennon down the right. He got all the way to by-line and options in the box, but perhaps got caught in two minds and tried a shot that he got all wrong.

A minute later, Drogba nearly punished us with a looping header after Terry's ball to the back post, but it sailed wide and it looked as if we had weathered the storm...

Of course, it's never that easy, and there was some late, late drama when Alex climbed to head a corner onto the bar.

But we claimed what has to be the result of the season, and the joy around The Lane at the final whistle was tangible.

Spurs (4-4-2): Gomes; Corluka, Woodgate, King, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon (Zokora, 90), Palacios, Jenas, Modric (O'Hara, 87); Keane, Bent
Subs not used: Cudicini, Dawson, Huddlestone, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko

Chelsea (4-4-2): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Belletti (Quaresma, 61), Essien (Malouda, 77), Ballack, Lampard; Anelka, Drogba
Subs not used: Hilario, Ivanovic, Mancienne, Kalou, Di Santo

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Lennon Commits Future

Courtesy of Official Site-

The Club is delighted to announce that Aaron Lennon has signed an extension to his contract that will see him at White Hart Lane until 2014.

The 21-year-old winger has featured in 41 of our 45 games so far this season and scored five goals, equalling his best scoring return in a season.

Aaron joined us from Leeds United in July, 2005 and has made 160 appearances in our colours, including starting both our League Cup finals in the past two seasons.

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League Report: Aston Villa 1 Spurs 2

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Jermaine Jenas and Darren Bent goals - four minutes into each half - defeated Aston Villa 2-1 in an absorbing encounter at Villa Park on Sunday.

The substitute John Carew did reduce the arrears late on but the team dug in and showed the character to emerge victorious in front of a crowd of 41,205.

The game exploded into life on four minutes when Aaron Lennon skinned Luke Young down the right and fizzed in a cross that Brad Friedel could not deal with and Jenas was on hand to nod home in front of a stunned Holte End.

Stilian Petrov did his best to level matters after a spell of Spurs pressure following the breakthrough, unleashing a dipping drive that did not dip quite enough for the liking of the Bulgarian and cleared the crossbar.

Urgency was injected into Villa's attacking play, in particular down the left flank being worked by Ashley Young, who seemed to be afforded an awful lot of space by Didier Zokora at right back. From one of this sorties he managed to square in the direction of Gareth Barry and Heurelho Gomes was called on to field.

It was an open encounter and the pace of the Villa front two, plus Young out wide, was the cause of some concern. Zokora was booked for a reckless challenge on Young and the Ivorian was having a torrid start to his afternoon.

Jenas did his best to again rattle Friedel, but a deflection took the sting out of his effort as we approached the final ten minutes of the half. Zokora was then replaced by a more natural full-back in the shape of Vedran Corluka, a decision based purely no doubt on the problems being posed by Young.

A missed header by Carlos Cuellar gave Darren Bent the chance to speed down the right flank, but his centre in the direction of Keane was intercepted at the last by Luke Young before Jenas employed some clever play to release Luka Modric in the area and it took a strong one-handed block by Friedel to avoid a doubling of our advantage in the moments before half-time.

Despite the advantage, Harry Redknapp will have felt there was much to improve on during the interval, not least some increased security at the back, with a warning being provided by Emile Heskey heading against the crossbar just before the half-time whistle sounded.

The deficit for Villa was doubled four minutes into the second half when a run from Lennon teed up Wilson Palacios for a shot that Friedel did well to block but could not gather. Keane went for goal from an acute angle on the rebound and, with Friedel beaten, Bent was on hand to tap home at the far post.

Sustained pressure followed with the home side rocked back on their collective heels, the pace of Lennon and Bent was the feature of this half as opposed to Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor.

Martin O'Neill made the bold move of swapping a central defender for a burly striker - John Carew replacing Zat Knight.

Modric was next to the fore though, drilling goalwards and once again forcing Friedel to show strong hands, while Gomes did well to get his body in the way of a Petrov shot that kicked up right in front of him.

It was end to end stuff as the game progressed, Villa probably had too many set pieces for comfort but Gomes was always quick to take the pressure off his defenders by coming and claiming - occasionally punching.

Keane stung the palms of Friedel again as the noise from the Spurs travelling thousands echoed around the stadium.

Six minutes from time the home fans came to life when a run and raking cross from James Milner was met at the far post by the head of the giant Carew, who planted the ball into the top corner of the net.

It placed renewed vigour into the efforts of Villa and nervous minutes where endured before referee Mr Bennett called time to make it a fourth away win of the season and lift us up to 11th in the table.

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Gunter Loan to Nottingham Forest

Courtesy of Official Site-

We have reached agreement with Nottingham Forest for Chris Gunter to join the Championship club on loan for the rest of the season.

The Welsh international defender joined us from Cardiff City in January, 2008 and made his debut in our FA Cup Third Round replay win against Reading later that month.

The 19-year-old full-back has since gone on to make a total of 15 appearances in all competitions for the Club.

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League Report: Sunderland 1 Spurs 1

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A late goal from Robbie Keane secured a deserved point up at Sunderland after the home side found the net in the first few minutes.

It appeared that it was going to be one of those frustrating and fruitless away days, where just desserts are off the menu, but Keane saw to it that there was some return from this particular trip with his crisp late finish in the 89th minute.

Harry Redknapp made four changes to the side that beat Middlesbrough in midweek with Darren Bent partnering Keane up front, Pascal Chimbonda facing his former club and Vedran Corluka and Ledley King back on defensive duty.

Sunderland were certainly the quicker out of the blocks and just over three minutes were showing on the clock when Kieran Richardson seized on some defensive hesitation and stole in behind before slipping the ball beyond Heurelho Gomes.

There were suggestions that the speed of Darren Bent and Aaron Lennon could make a telling contribution before the 10-minute mark had passed. Bent's chasing of an over-hit pass down the right flank resulted in Lennon being presented with a crossing opportunity which Bent himself did his utmost to get on the end of. Another Lennon sortie led to a Keane header being comfortably fielded by former Spur Marton Fulop.

On the subject of former Spurs, there was also Steed Malbranque and Andy Reid in the Sunderland starting line-up, while Calum Davenport was on the bench - the injured Teemu Tainio was in the tunnel greeting his old team on their arrival.

The gusting wind was making fluent football a problematic exercise, the ball hanging in the air from clearances and the stringing together of lengthy passages of possession was at a premium.

Pascal Chimbonda, operating at left back, was getting the bird from his former public of six months or so, while in front of him Luka Modric slowly became more influential as the first half wore on. On the other side Lennon was having to cope with being double-marked every time he received the ball.

From a Jermaine Jenas free-kick, Ledley King had a clear sight of goal on 34 minutes, the ball falling loose after striking a home defender and the central defender looked set to score before Fulop advanced and smothered his intentions.

Djibril Cisse got the run on King in the opening moments of the second half, the former Liverpool man thankfully steering his drive into the side netting.

Modric was clearly instructed to become a more active presence during the interval and he was quickly coming inside and increasing his involvement, whereas he remained stationed on the left during the first 45 minutes.

Control was almost complete in the first 10 minutes after the break, but still we were a goal in arrears as the final ball was lacking and so was a finish in the case of Bent on 58 minutes when Dean Whitehead spun a clearance back in the direction of his own goal and the leading scorer was through, only to blast over the bar. He later shot wide from a more difficult position on the right side of the penalty area.

Tom Huddlestone was introduced just after the hour mark in place of the hard-working Jenas, but the next significant chance came when Cisse was presented with a free header from a Reid cross which zipped just wide via the knee of King.

David Bentley was next on in place of Jenas, with Lennon switching to the left and Modric to the middle. Chimbonda and Vedran Corluka also swapped flanks.

There was a big handball shout against Phil Bardsley from a Lennon cross but pleas were ignored by referee Mr Dowd. Huddlestone then had a header fielded by Fulop following a precise cross from Chimbonda.

Roman Pavlyuchenko was our final throw of the dice and a defender - Corluka - was sacrificed in a bold attacking move for the final eight minutes or so.

It worked when Bentley picked out the run of Bent down the right, who crossed low for Keane to save the day.

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League Report: Spurs 4 Middlesbrough 0

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Aaron strikes twice as Robbie re-opens account

Robbie Keane marked his 200th league appearance in our colours by scoring his first goal since rejoining the Club in a vital 4-0 win over Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane.

The in-form Aaron Lennon also struck twice in the win which takes us up to 13th in the Barclays Premier League table.

Roman Pavlyuchenko got his name on the scoresheet as well as we put the disappointment of our Carling Cup Final defeat well and truly behind us.

There were three changes to the side defeated at Wembley on Sunday. Keane and Wilson Palacios, who were cup-tied for that game, both reclaimed their places in the starting line-up at the expense of Darren Bent and Vedran Corluka.

Didier Zokora switched to right-back, allowing Palacios to take up his central midfield role alongside Jermaine Jenas.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Woodgate, who missed out on the cup final with an Achilles injury, came back into the centre of defence in place of Ledley King.

But ‘Woody' did display a little rustiness, you could say, in the opening stages of this game, in which Boro started brightly.

Their former player misplaced a pass straight to the feet of Stewart Downing, who tested Heurelho Gomes with a third minute shot.

But our first chance came just moments later when Jenas picked out Lennon at the back post, who stretched to meet the ball on the volley which trickled just wide.

Overall, it was an even start to the game, so the crucial opening goal was more than welcomed when it came after nine minutes.

Luka Modric's corner was flicked on by Michael Dawson at the near post, and there was captain Keane to turn the ball home with a typical striker's finish.

Then came the familiar celebration as the Irishman wheeled away in delight towards the elated Park Lane end, holding out his arms spread-eagled to lap up the reception. It was if he had never been away.

But Boro were not about to let their promising start go to waste and thought they had found an equaliser just three minutes later.

Tuncay Sanli raced onto Downing's arrowed ball over the top and slammed a shot home off the bar, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. Maybe then their heads dropped a little, and before they knew it, we were 2-0 up.

Keane was instrumental again as he slipped a ball through to Modric, whose drop of the shoulder left Robert Huth for dead and the Croatian in the clear to slide the ball across the face of goal for Pavlyuchenko to slide in and score his 13th goal of the season.

Again, Boro must be given credit for doing their best to keep the game alive - but you got the feeling this just wasn't their night.

On 18 minutes Justin Hoyte's cross headed clear by Woodgate but only as far Tuncay, whose goal-bound shot was superbly and bravely blocked by Dawson. So it was left to us to go and kill the game off.

Keane had a chance to do so on 35 minutes as he received a throughball from Modric and tried to lift the ball over on-rushing goalkeeper Brad Jones. He was equal to that one, but there was little he could do five minutes later.

After a splendid passing move, Keane picked up the ball 20 yards out and cheekily flicked the ball through the legs of the hapless Huth for Lennon to run onto and finish past Jones with aplomb.

It was his second goal in two league games and a fourth of the season for the flying winger.

The last attack of the first half summed it all up for Boro. Gary O'Neil put in a great cross to the back post where Jeremie Aliadiere waited unmarked. His downward header was tame and well wide when he really should have scored.

Their bad luck continued into the second half. On 66 minutes, Hoyte played in Tuncay down the line, and although his cross from the by-line was miss-hit, it hit the inside of Gomes' post.

Julio Arca also went close on 73 minutes with a shot that skimmed the roof of the net from the edge of the box before Lennon put the game well and truly out of sight six minutes later.

Tom Huddlestone found fellow substitute Bent with a throughball and he checked and found Keane, who slid the ball in for Lennon to dink over the goalkeeper for his second of the night, and his third in two league games.

Boro continued in their endeavours and Tuncay forced Gomes into another low save on 82 minutes.

But Keane should have made it five three minutes later when he headed over Jamie O'Hara's corner unmarked from six yards.

It is worth noting at this point the fantastic reception O'Hara received from our fans when he was introduced for Modric on 73 minutes - a heart-felt show of support after the midfielder's unfortunate miss in Sunday's penalty shoot-out.

In the dying moments, Tuncay had yet another goal disallowed for offside after heading home O'Neil's in-swinging free-kick to make it a truly forgettable night for the Teesiders.

Spurs (4-4-2): Gomes; Zokora, Dawson, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Jenas (Huddlestone, 64), Modric (O'Hara, 73); Pavlyuchenko (Bent, 53), Keane
Subs not used: Cudicini, Chimbonda, Corluka, Bentley

Boro (4-4-1-1): Jones; Hoyte (Johnson, 70), Wheater, Huth (Taylor, 46), Pogatetz; O'Neil, Bates, Arca, Downing; Tuncay, Aliadiere (King, 53)
Subs not used: Turnball, Walker, Emnes, Alves

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Carling Cup Final: Man United 0 Spurs 0, Man United win on PKs

Courtesy of Official Site-

Ledley King feels we put in a performance to be proud of in our Carling Cup Final defeat against Manchester United.

The Club captain has praised the team effort that saw us match the European champions throughout the 120 minutes of football before the penalty shoot-out cost us.

And with another massive game coming up against Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Wednesday, Ledley feels we must focus on the positives that have come out of our Wembley display.

"The whole team worked hard to protect the defence and Gomes didn't have too much to do on the day," he said.

"United didn't create too many openings and it had the look of a 0-0 going into extra time as there were a lot of tired bodies out there. We just hoped we could take one of our chances, but it wasn't to be.

"We got a little tired towards the end and they put the pressure on, but that was to be expected. I think we can take heart from the performance going into our league games."

The misfortune of failing to convert spot-kicks falls on the shoulders of the brave Jamie O'Hara and David Bentley.

But as skipper, Ledley took it upon himself to praise the lads for their courage as the pain of defeat hit home after the game.

"I said to the lads that they were the ones who showed the willingness to step up. We win as a team and lose as a team, so no-one is being singled out.

"It's disappointing, but I thought we put in a performance we can be proud of, and penalties is never a nice way to lose. But one team has to, and unfortunately it was us.

"The dressing room was sombre afterwards and a big contrast to how it was last year. Now we've got to pick ourselves up for Wednesday's game. There's no time to dwell on this result."

Ledley also praised our fans who, for the second year running at Wembley, proved they are one of the best sets of supporters in the land.

"The fans were brilliant, and everywhere they go they seem to out-sing the opposition and spur the lads on. They played a big part in our two Wembley performances."

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