please log in to view this image Monday 18th April 8pm Britannia Stadium Premier League Only five games less to go now and we failed to close the gap last week, despite winning. It looks like a very big ask to make up seven points now and it could be more by the time this is played. This starts a run of three Monday night games for us, which I can't remember happening before. The pressure's on and the focus is narrowed. Our hosts come into the game in a comfortable position in the league and will still have European ambitions. They sit in 9th place, which is where they've finished in the last two campaigns. Mark Hughes will want to improve on that this season, as they've made some impressive signings. Arnautovic, Afellay, Shaqiri, Bojan and Imbula appear to represent a move away from their previous style. Stoke had become associated with an aggressive, old-school approach to the game. Long throws, set-pieces into big men, tough tackling and hard work became their signature. The switch from Tony Pulis to Mark Hughes has attempted to change that without sacrificing results. Their two Welsh coaches may be similarly dour off the pitch, but the contrast on it is quite apparent. Spending time at Man Utd, Barca and Bayern appears to have left it's mark on the current manager. A more attacking, European style is slowly being adopted and their transfers definitely reflect that. Will they be able to add some grace without losing their edge? Time will tell, but the signs are good. Our last trip to the Britannia was at a similar stage of the season and it didn't go well. A tired looking side went down to 10 men and lost badly to a confident, comfortable team. Hate-figure Charlie Adam opened the scoring and Steven N'Zonzi added to it before half-time. Vlad Chiriches was dismissed for a second bookable offence shortly after the break. A late Jan Vertonghen own goal completed our miserable day. The game at the Lane earlier in the campaign left many of us with a similarly sour taste in our mouths. It was only the second game and the early signs looked good. Dier and Chadli put us two up at the break and the team was in complete control. The second period started in similar style and the result looked in little doubt. The game changed on the hour though, as Ireland and Joselu were introduced from the bench. Alderweireld made a rare mistake to give away a penalty, which was converted by Arnautovic. Diouf equalised with a header and Ireland missed a late chance to steal all three points. It felt very much like a loss anyway, to be honest. Our only confirmed injury for this game is Nabil Bentaleb. N'Jie had a full week of training and should be available for selection. Johnson, Wilson, Walters and Butland are out for injured for Stoke. Pieters is suspended. Whelan and Muniesa will be assessed before the game. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Lamela, Eriksen, Alli; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Wimmer, Mason, Carroll, Chadli, Son. League form: LDWWDW. Stoke: Haugaard; Bardsley, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters; Cameron, Imbula; Shaqiri, Bojan, Afellay; Crouch. Subs: Given, Teixeira, Muniesa, Adam, Ireland, Joselu, Diouf. League form: WDLWDL. Referee: Neil Swarbrick. Replaces Kevin Friend, who lives in Leicester. Our previous two games this season with Friend as the ref were comfortable wins. He took charge as we strolled to victory at Southampton and Norwich, 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. Do we need to make any changes, following our slow start against Man Utd? Is anyone looking in need of a break or a kick up the arse? Does our bench need freshening up or are our options for subs ok?
Wenger's mouthing off about Kevin Friend being replaced as referee for this game. He's just uppity because, in all his years of blaming referees for his team's failures, he's never thought of bringing their geographical location into it...
Might have been discussed before but any thoughts about who the next Paul Stewart might be? Andros Townsend's got to be in with a shout, although a lot of clubs would need to be promoted
So after today, the aims come FT tomorrow are : 1. Win 2. No season/career-ending thuggery by Adam on any of our key players with the following a bonus : 3. Clean sheet 4. Kane scoring
West Ham amazingly done us a favour, now it's our turn to deliver tomorrow night. Team picks itself to be honest, same XI that played Utd. COYS!
Agree with SOS. the 11 that started against united. - (Although I still feel slightly sorry for Wimmer.)
He has done his part. And if Spurs win the PL he will qualify for a winners medal. With CL imminent, IMHO we can expect rotation of the current three CBs next season.
According to Robbie "How's My Hair Look" Savage, Spurs have the best away record at The Britannia in the PL, is that true?
Big Kev has shown that Jan and Toby need to be at 100% every game because a drop in form and I'll have no problems with Poch throwing him into the starting XI. For the first time since King, Woody and Daws, we haven't had a trio of CB's who can consistently perform week-in, week-out. I feel for him in the sense that he never really put a foot wrong when he played and so being dropped is harsh, although on the other hand I do think he's played a lot more than what he initially thought he would (thanks to Jan's injury) so I'd like to think he won't be too disappointed.
We don't yet know how the Vertonghen/Wimmer combo will do in the hardest games Spurs have. Toby is a known quantity on this front.
You just know Adam will do something ****ty to one of our players...he just can't help himself! Read that the ref was changed for this cos the original ref had been to see Leicester play in the past with mates (he is a fan of Bristol City). Find it weird that a ref that constantly gives awful decisions against us (cough foy cough) was never removed from refereeing our matches but this guy has been.
It would be somewhat ironic if we are on the wrong end of some poor decisions tonight after the referee was changed for this game, fingers crossed the ref has a good game.
