Warnock: Blades in awe of stars
23 Aug 2006 - 10:31:13
Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock admitted his players had found Aaron Lennon and Robbie Keane too hot to handle in Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.
Early goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Jermaine Jenas secured the points for Spurs, while the pace and movement of Lennon and Keane caused the Blades problems all night.
A disappointed Warnock said: "We were in awe of them. One or two of our players let themselves down for 20 minutes.
"We had a difficult day because we lost three players before the game so we had to change a lot of things round. Our preparation was poor because it threw us out.
"I thought their quality shone through. Keane was outstanding as was Lennon in the early part of the game.
"At 2-0 a lot of people must have thought it was going to be double figures but I thought we responded well and it would have been nice to put them under pressure.
"We are glad to be in the Premier League but we have got to stop worrying about teams and get amongst them.
"We gave them too much respect in the first 10 or 15 minutes. One or two players were looking around and not concentrating.
"But it was the quality of the opposition as well not just our mistakes. Lennon, in spurts, was unplayable."