Tottenham show rage against Wigan

Tottenham show rage against Wigan

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe revealed how he made a last-minute change of boots before his goalscoring frenzy against Wigan that sent his club back into the Barclays Premier League top four.

Spurs development coach Clive Allen, himself a prolific striker in his playing days, told Defoe to change his green boots - and the result was five goals in the 9-1 demolition at White Hart Lane.

It was Spurs' biggest victory for 32 years, since they defeated Bristol Rovers, and their biggest in the Premier League.

"I had a funny feeling before the game," Defoe said. "Adidas gave me a pair of green boots and I tried them on before the game, but Clive Allen said I couldn't wear them, so I changed them.

"They were pinkish silver ones in the end, and I go and score five."

Peter Crouch's early strike gave Harry Redknapp's men a half-time lead, with nothing at that stage suggesting Spurs would almost hit double figures. Robbie Keane, who was rested following his World Cup efforts for Republic of Ireland last week, told his team-mates in the dressing room at half-time that they needed a second goal to kill Wigan off.

Defoe, when asked if they needed the ninth goal, joked: "Maybe a 10th."

Aaron Lennon and Niko Kranjcar also netted, while David Bentley's free-kick went in off Chris Kirkland, who made a string of fine saves despite the scoreline.

Redknapp believes his player can finish top goalscorer in the league and cement himself in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad with England.

"I don't see why Defoe can't be the top scorer in the Premier League this season," the Spurs boss said. "It's about time he scored 20 goals in a season. I don't know whether he's done it before, maybe with West Ham, but he should be able to do that.

"He's been so sharp in training. You could see this coming."

Defoe recently came back from a three-match suspension for violent conduct after getting sent off against Portsmouth - with his club losing two of the games he missed.

"The England manager will have watched him and he can't react that way," Redknapp added about his striker, who joined Ted Harper, Alf Stokes and Les Allen as Spurs players to have score five times in a match.

"But he's come back strong. When he concentrates and plays his football, he can be unstoppable."

Wigan's goal came from Paul Scharner, who appeared to handle before lashing in, offering a reminder of Thierry Henry's handball last Wednesday.

Redknapp added: "Handball. It was as blatant as Thierry Henry's handball. I haven't even seen a replay. If he could have controlled it with his body, he would have done and I'm surprised the referee didn't spot it. I can't believe he missed it."

Redknapp suffered a 9-0 reverse in first match as a manager - Lincoln beat Bournemouth on that occasion - and he did not celebrate in front of Wigan boss Roberto Martinez as the goals crashed in.

Martinez is hoping his side are not psychologically scarred from the defeat.

"The damage of this won't be carried into the next game," said the Spaniard. "We have enough characters in the dressing room and we need to react in the right way. I've never been involved in a game like this.

"From the mental point of view, we'll get stronger from this. This is a very unique situation but we can use it in a positive way in terms of learning from these situations. We've never experienced this before.

"The biggest disappointment was how we started the first half, then the naivety that saw them scoring in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

"It's about damage limitation after that in terms of going into next week, avoiding yellow cards that will be carried into next week."