Tottenham beating AC Milan has made us Premier League's most wanted, insists Michael Dawson
Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of a Champions League place next season has been made more fraught because their victory over AC Milan has made them a prize scalp for the rest of the Premier League, according to Michael Dawson.
Most wanted: Michael Dawson says that Tottenham beating AC Milan has made them a prized scalp in the Premier League Photo: ACTION IMAGES
By Rory Smith 7:15AM GMT 24 Feb 2011
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Harry Redknapp’s side missed the chance to increase their lead over Chelsea, overtake Manchester City and claim third place in the league table because of defeat at Blackpool on Tuesday night, just seven days after recording one of the most famous wins in their history at the San Siro.
Brett Ormerod — whose goal in the 3-1 win made him the first man to score for the same club in all four divisions — admitted Blackpool had watched that 1-0 victory in an attempt to prepare for Spurs, despite manager Ian Holloway’s insistence his side should concentrate on their own achievements.
“We watched a bit of it,” said Ormerod. “But then the gaffer said, ‘that’s enough, let’s look at some of the things we have done’. But when you consider Spurs beat the Italian league leaders a week before they came here, for us to turn them over is amazing.”
It is an attitude Dawson fears Tottenham Hotspur may now have to grow accustomed to following their high-profile exploits in Europe.
“That was our game in hand on teams, and it was a chance missed,” said the defender. “We knew it was going to be tough. Everyone had been talking about the game last week for so long and we knew Blackpool would be up for it. They will have watched the game last week and wanted to get right in our faces. They did that.
“It is not just this season. Tottenham are a massive club and teams want to beat us. Maybe our status is going up. Blackpool probably watched us last week, knew we were coming.
“The players have placed expectations on themselves by doing so well last year and at the start of this season and after Christmas, so we have to put on the best performances and get the best results.”
Redknapp, however, put his team’s defeat at Bloomfield Road down to poor finishing, rather than added motivation for the opposition.
He said: “We missed chances – second half it was chance after chance. We just needed a goal, if we had scored one I think we’d have gone on and probably won. But we kept missing open goals.”
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