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Woodgate: Spurs could go down

24/10/2008

Tottenham Hotspur defender Jonathan Woodgate believes it is realistic to suggest the troubled London club could face relegation from the Premier League.

Despite starting the season with no wins from eight matches - and seeing their misery compounded by a 2-0 defeat in the Uefa Cup at Udinese last night - Spurs fans continue to suggest the team is too good to go down.

With players of the calibre of England internationals Woodgate, David Bentley and Jermaine Jenas, such a view is one shared by many respected pundits.

However, Woodgate - who was on Leeds United's books shortly before they were relegated from the top flight in 2004 - said he fears for Spurs because they are not as good as the Elland Road team in which he played.

"You aren't too good to go down, believe me," the central defender said.

"I have seen it before at Leeds, and Leeds had a better team than we have got right now.

"They went down eventually and we really have got to roll up our sleeves without question, because I am telling you now it is going to be hard.

"Two points out of eight (Premier League) games – one million per cent, we're in a relegation battle."

Spurs suffered a third sending off in their last two games in Italy when Jamie O'Hara was dismissed for picking up two bookings in just over a minute in the second half, after Michael Dawson and Gareth Bale were both sent off in the 2-1 league defeat to Stoke City last weekend.

And this lack of discipline, plus the defensive lapses that led to both Udinese goals, is what Woodgate blames for the north Londoners' current predicament.

"The same thing has happened in every single game this season - it was a lack of concentration," he continued.

"We have had that in other games and we have to start learning quickly. A goal goes in and we start thinking 'here we go again', but the senior players have got to stand up and start taking responsibility."

Woodgate added: "We are bottom of the league and it can't get much worse than that. We deserve to be where we are.

"We are good enough to get out of it if the players start concentrating but if we don't, we will go down."