Spurs run ends

Sunday, 11/12/2011

by James Willis, Shoot's Tottenham blogger

With an exit from the Europa League looming, Spurs fans will need to take this opportunity to continue looking at the positives in the club's current position. It's something that is becoming more commonplace amongst the team's fans during what has already been a very exciting season.

Although Tottenham look odds on to beat Shamrock Rovers in their final Europa League group stage game, they still have to rely on already qualified PAOK beating Rubin Kazan in the other group match. Although that is certainly possible, PAOK may well rest their first team, having already qualified for the knockout rounds.

However, with the most of Tottenham's League rivals remaining in Europe in one form or another, be it Europa League or Champions League, it seems that the club need to capitalise on this opportunity to push on in the Premier League.

If Tottenham do officially exit the Europa League, it will mean that the only other cup competition they have to worry about will be the FA Cup. The club were drawn in a home game against Cheltenham, which will probably be another chance for some of the youngsters and second string players to shine.

A tough visit to Stoke's Britannia Stadium proved to be the end of Tottenham's unbeaten run in the Premier League, but once again, Spurs fans should keep their heads held high. There was a lot of spirit showed in the game to come a whisker away from taking something out of the match, but it was not to be.

Some people will blame Chris Foy, the referee, for the loss and, while he may have had a bad game which affected the outcome, that's simply football. Tottenham received a little bit of luck from the officials to see off Fulham a matter of weeks earlier and yet the world kept turning, as it will this week.

Perhaps it was a helpful reality check in order to avoid Spurs fans getting too carried away with this 'title challengers' talk. It may also act as a warning that Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all remain close behind.

It didn't seem possible little over a month ago that Arsenal and Liverpool would be keeping pace with Tottenham, and as the league table shows, they still aren't but it's closer than many people give the league credit for.

Chelsea's slip in form would appear to be nothing more than a blip after two recent strong wins, and they'll now be looking to mirror last season with a strong second half of the campaign.

Tottenham will have all hands on deck over this Christmas period in the hope they can come out with very few injury problems and a strong league position.

They have the ability to finish within the top four, and keep up with the Manchester clubs, but to do that they'll need to show grit, determination and intelligence.

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