Source: Telegraph
Tottenham can shine in Premier League and Champions League, says Ledley King
Just days after beating Young Boys to reach the Champions League group stages - and a day after drawing Inter Milan, Werder Bremen and FC Twente - Tottenham were poor against Wigan, suggesting the European task took a lot out of the relatively inexperienced squad. [LNB]Againt West Brom, though, Spurs should give a debut to one player with Champions League miles in his tank, Rafael van der Vaart.[LNB] Related ArticlesJermain Defoe set for six-week lay-offRedknapp relief at Dawson scanDawson ruled out for two Euro qualifiersWoodgate frozen out at TottenhamTottenham complete Van der Vaart signingPeter Crouch ruled out for EnglandArsenal and Chelsea have balanced both tasks over the years, and King said: "We can do that, of course. That's what we want to do and that's what we are going to start doing. Too many times people expect Tottenham to slip up and get the kind of result we got against Wigan. [LNB]"But to be fair to us, in the last couple of years we've come away from that. We've picked up results. Because we are such a good side teams will come to White Hart Lane and make it difficult but it's up to us to break them down. [LNB]"Against Wigan we got caught in between two stools. We were pushing to get the win and we got caught at the same time ourselves. But it's a balancing act and it's something we have to improve on. [LNB]"We've been in Europe before and we realise how difficult it is when you have the midweek games. We've got enough international players at the club and we know that, coming off a midweek game at the highest level, it can be difficult. [LNB]'We put in the hard work last season and it's important that we finish that off this season. That's done now and it's back to the league stuff.' [LNB]Many believe Tottenham are in the toughest group, but King added: 'Overall it's a draw where we are not going anywhere that we are unfamiliar with. The teams are good footballing sides and I'm sure there will be some good games in there for us. [LNB]"Inter are a top side with top quality internationals. But we played against this sort of side in pre-season. We played against Barcelona in pre-season. We've had a taste of what they are about. [LNB]"And we've got international players in our own squad so we won't be going anywhere with anything to fear. We respect our opponents, obviously, but we've got to show them what we've got as well." [LNB]
