Source: Team_Talk
Bale warning for Newcastle
Tottenham star Gareth Bale has warned Newcastle that he and his team-mates are back to their devastating best.[LNB] Spurs are looking to secure their fifth straight league win at St James' Park on Sunday.[LNB]Tottenham looked destined for a long, disappointing season when they opened their campaign with two heavy defeats to both Manchester sides, the second a crushing 5-1 home reverse to top-four rivals City.[LNB]The poor start came amid a background of rumblings of unhappiness among a few Spurs players intent on leaving White Hart Lane, chief among them Luka Modric.[LNB]Since the transfer window closed, with Modric remaining at the London club, Spurs have gone from strength to strength, picking up four straight Barclays Premier League wins, two of which came against rivals Liverpool and Arsenal.[LNB]Tomorrow they face unbeaten Newcastle, who have somehow managed to climb to fourth in the table despite the summer sales of key players Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique.[LNB]Bale, who scored Wales' winner in Bulgaria this week, has been a key cog in producing the dangerous, rapid attacking football that Spurs have displayed in their recovery, and he hopes the club's impressive form will continue tomorrow afternoon.[LNB]"We're on a great run and we want to continue that form at Newcastle and get the victory," Bale told Spurs TV Online.[LNB]"I think as soon as we get our passing game going, there's not many teams that can handle us. We've been playing great football."[LNB]The Welshman, who starred in the club's European and Barclays Premier League campaigns last season, is aware of the Magpies' early-season form, but is sure that manager Harry Redknapp's plan to pick Alan Pardew's team apart will work.[LNB]"We know how well Newcastle have been playing. They have been in good form and we know their threats but we've been working on the training pitch to exploit their weaknesses and get ahead of them," Bale added.[LNB]Pardew also had to deal with losing star striker Andy Carroll in January and has struggled to find a big-money long-term replacement.[LNB]The emergence of Demba Ba, who has scored four times in his last two games, has helped ease the burden on the Magpies' other strikers and Redknapp has also ben impressed with the displays of Cheik Tiote and Yohan Cabaye, both of whom were signed by Pardew.[LNB]"Alan Pardew has done a great job and they're a strong team," said Redknapp, who almost took the manager's job at Newcastle in 2008.[LNB]"The midfield two are very strong. They have the French lad (Cabaye) and Tiote, who is a strong, aggressive, very good player.[LNB]"Jonas Gutierrez is a threat and they are performing well. The front players work their socks off as well and Alan is getting the absolute maximum out of his team so they will be dangerous, that's for sure."[LNB]Redknapp is sweating on the fitness of a number of key players ahead of tomorrow's game.[LNB]Emmanuel Adebayor (hamstring), Sandro (calf) and Aaron Lennon (groin) all face late tests while Niko Kranjcar joined Spurs' list of long-term absentees this week when suffered a groin tear.[LNB]Tom Huddlestone underwent an operation on a long-standing ankle injury this week, to deprive Redknapp of another midfielder.[LNB]Scott Parker's excellent form since signing from West Ham has softened the blow of losing Huddlestone, and Redknapp thinks the former Derby midfielder is set for a long lay-off.[LNB]"I think Tom's operation went ok," Redknapp added.[LNB]"It's a long recovery job, a long road back for Tom. He is going to be in a boot for six to eight weeks."[LNB]
