Source: FOOTYMAD
Spurs v Pool Match Preview
Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has no new injury concerns ahead of the Barclays Premier League clash with Tottenham. Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone and defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto will both miss the visit of Blackpool.Huddlestone has severe bruising on his ankle while Assou-Ekotto is still struggling with the hamstring injury that caused him to miss last week's Chelsea defeat. Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has no fresh injury concerns. Striker James Beattie has recovered from the illness that kept him out of last week's draw against Stoke. Tottenham Doubtful: Assou-Ekotto (hamstring), Huddlestone (ankle), Woodgate (calf) Injured: Hutton & Palacios (both knee), Khumalo (foot), King (groin) Blackpool Injured: Basham (broken leg), Carney (shoulder) MATCH PREVIEW Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston said this week that he wants Ian Holloway to stay on as manager even if the club are relegated. With three games to go, including a trip to Manchester United on the final day of the season, Blackpool are just above the bottom three on goal difference and it is easy to understand Oyston's concerns. Every day I've been at this football club I've tried to treasure it and polish the badge, and I haven't finished polishing yet Blackpool manager Ian Holloway The Seasiders finished last season with a surge, winning six of their last eight Championship league games to clinch the final play-off spot. This season tells a very different story; Blackpool were ninth after beating Liverpool in January, but have won just once since. That win was against Tottenham, who have also found victories hard to come by recently. Spurs went in to the Blackpool match in February in fourth place but a run of one win in eight games has all but ended their hopes of a Champions League spot next season. Last week's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea was extremely unlucky though, given that Frank Lampard's equaliser did not cross the line. Spurs manager Harry Rednapp and Ian Holloway have both called for video technology to be introduced. "Let's get every decision right and we'll all be buzzing," Holloway said. MATCH FACTS Head-to-head • This is the 59th time these clubs have met. Tottenham lead by 30 wins to 14, with 14 draws. • Blackpool are aiming to do the 'double' over Tottenham for the first time, having won 3-1 at Bloomfield Road in February. Tottenham • Tottenham have won just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions. • Spurs have won only one of their last nine matches against promoted opposition. • Only one team have beaten Spurs at White Hart Lane in the league this season - Wigan Athletic, back in August. • If he plays, Jermain Defoe will be making his 200th league appearance for Tottenham. Blackpool • Blackpool are seeking a first victory in nine games. They have not won since beating Tottenham at home on 22 February. • The Seasiders have picked up more points on their travels (18) than at home (17). • Blackpool have conceded 70 goals this season - more than any Premier League club. Last week's clean sheet was their first of 2011. • Keith Southern is set to make his 300th start for the club. LEADING GOALSCORERS Tottenham Van der Vaart: 14 goals (12 league); Pavlyuchenko: 12 goals (8 league) Blackpool Campbell: 12 goals* (12 league); Adam: 10 goals (9 league) *Includes 1 goal (1 league) for Leicester MATCH OFFICIALS Referee: Lee Probert Assistant referees: Scott Ledger & Dean Mohareb Fourth official: Anthony Taylor LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS Tottenham (L1-2 v Chelsea, a): Gomes, Kaboul, Dawson, Gallas, Corluka (Pienaar 78), Lennon, Modric, Sandro, Bale, Van der Vaart (Jenas 85), Pavlyuchenko (Defoe 58). Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Crouch, Bassong, Rose. Blackpool (D0-0 v Stoke, h): Gilks, Eardley, Evatt, Baptiste, Crainey, Southern, Adam, Vaughan, Phillips (Varney 72), Taylor-Fletcher (Kornilenko 73), Campbell. Subs Not Used: Kingson, Ormerod, Cathcart, Puncheon, Reid. Ollie tells Adam to keep it simple Blackpool boss Ian Holloway has urged out-of-sorts club captain Charlie Adam to keep things simple over the remaining weeks of the season. Adam has been one of the Seasiders' star performers in their maiden Barclays Premier League campaign and was among the shortlisted nominees for the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year award won by Tottenham's Gareth Bale last month. "He's that important to us that if he plays well, we play well," Holloway said. "What he has got to do is make sure he plays simply, quickly, nicely and neatly, and forgets all these shots from the halfway line because that is not really going to help anybody when you are not on form. That's not the way to get back in the game." He added: "Luckily some of the lads, particularly in the last two games, have raised their level and made up for him not being quite up to his normal level. "It will always be difficult for Charlie to be able to play to his level and stand out. "We have spoken about it and I've put on some training this week for him and the rest of them to get it into their minds what is important. "For 75% of the time you should be playing it nice and simple to your team-mates and 25% of the time you should be looking for a long diagonal if one is on. "At the moment I would suggest that he is getting that balance slightly wrong." Although acknowledging it would be unrealistic to expect the 25-year-old to maintain his performance level throughout the entire season, Holloway insists Adam is not undroppable. "He is a great player, a great lad and he's allowed to be not totally on top form sometimes," Holloway said. "But if he goes too bad I might leave him out. I've got some other people here who are probably thinking 'are you ever going to do that?' So I'll have to think about that." Beattie available for Blackpool Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has no new injury concerns ahead of the Barclays Premier League clash with Tottenham. James Beattie has recovered from the illness that kept him out of the goalless draw with Stoke last weekend, meaning Holloway should have a virtually full squad to choose from for the game at White Hart Lane. David Carney, whose season has been ended by a shoulder problem, is the only definite absentee. Holloway- Blackpool rocks Ian Holloway insists he has no intention of walking out on Blackpool to manage another club. The Seasiders have been on a remarkable journey under Holloway, winning promotion to the Barclays Premier League for the first time via the Championship play-offs last May and then doing enough this season to be above the relegation zone with three games left to play, albeit on goal difference alone. It has earned the 48-year-old many admirers and reports have suggested he could be a potential summer target for West Ham. Holloway has vowed never to repeat the mistake he made by leaving Plymouth in 2007 for an ill-fated spell at Leicester. "I had a contract at Plymouth, I walked out on it and I will never do that again," he said. "I've got a contract here for this year and next year and I'm delighted and very proud to be a very small part of a magnificent football club. I saw it again the other evening, the statue we have outside now of Jimmy Armfield - this is an amazing club with an amazing history, and I like to feel that I have added to that." Holloway insists his future at Bloomfield Road will be determined by Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston. "I've got a great relationship with my chairman, who will choose when I'm not here anymore," Holloway said. "I wouldn't have signed my contract for the length that I did if I wasn't totally intent on seeing it through." Asked what would happen if he were to be headhunted by another club, Holloway said: "It would be nothing to do with me - my chairman would have to say 'these people want you, I don't want you anymore and you can go.' "If he doesn't want me to go then I would be happy to sit with him and discuss the length of a contract. Football isn't how it used to be, but this football club is and that is what I love about it. Every day I've been at this football club I've tried to treasure it and polish the badge, and I haven't finished polishing yet. "I was polishing Plymouth and I decided to leave that. I never explained why and I hate to say it, but I was wrong. I'm sorry for that and I'm sorry to Leicester for letting them down. I'm certainly never, ever going to bite the hand that feeds me. I make mistakes once and learn from them, and that is what I have done." Oyston has already made it clear he wants to keep Holloway on as manager whether Blackpool stay up or not, and he feels that should the club fail to beat the drop, they will be in a good position to push for promotion again. "I think we've got a really good, positive manager, who has an eye for talent and can get the best out of people," Oyston told the Blackpool Gazette. Source: PA
