Jenas pays tribute to attitude of ‘special’ Keane
Keane has admitted to being “frustrated” at having to play second fiddle to Jermain Defoe and Mido before the latter was suspended. Even then Spurs head coach Martin Jol opted to play recent signing Grzegorz Rasiak alongside Defoe - with Keane restricted to starting just the one game at Blackburn.
But with the Spurs fans chanting for his introduction, Keane showed his worth when scoring a fine second-half equaliser in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Aston Villa to end his side’s goal drought which had spanned more than six hours.
Jenas said: “Keano was brilliant when he came off the bench. He was lively and put a spark into the team. We were knocking on the door all through the second half and I think we got what we deserved in the end.
“It is great to have someone like Robbie to come on. Probably a lot of players of Robbie’s calibre would not accept sitting on the bench but to be fair to him his attitude has been brilliant.
“When he was on the pitch he was enthusiastic, wanted the ball, wanted to win and against Villa he was great for the team. He is special. He breathed a lot of life into a lot of players. He was bubbly, lively and most importantly he wanted to score and I think he showed that in his celebration.
“He has not sulked. Like I said, a lot of players wouldn’t accept sitting on the bench, especially someone of his calibre, at any club. It is credit to the lad that his attitude has been brilliant, even in training day in and day out. He got his reward.”
Villa ‘keeper Thomas Sorensen also covered himself in glory by saving a first half penalty from Defoe.
Sorensen has an impressive record of saving spot-kicks throughout his career but he is not giving away the secret of his success.
He said: “I’ve got my own theory about things. I think my record is 15 penalties and 11 saves. It has worked well for me and you need a bit of luck as well. I was more or less sure that he was going to strike it where he did - and then it’s a case of getting him to strike it there.
“Some of the good players will look at the ‘keeper until the last minute, even the last second, and then switch. I watch videos and you’ve got a rough idea of where their favourite side is. But I’m not going to give away my secret!”
: Tottenham have won just one of their last 12 away league games.
: Villa have only lost one Premiership home game in September, which was their first ever Premiership home game in that month in 1992.
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