Jol reserves right to bench deadly Defoe

Tottenham 3 Charlton 1

Defoe netted twice in Spurs’ White Hart Lane success over Charlton yesterday, with Jermaine Jenas the other man on the scoresheet.

It was only Defoe’s third start in the last 14 games, with even struggling summer buy Grzegorz Rasiak having got the nod ahead of him in the previous game as Robbie Keane’s partner.

Defoe is desperate to impress Sven-Goran Eriksson ahead of the World Cup but Jol insisted the England manager felt the same way as he did about playing two quick strikers together instead of using one alongside a target man, a role which Mido occupied for Spurs before he was called away for African Nations Cup duty with Egypt.

Jol said: “Anybody who scores goals out of the blue, he will play all the time but sometimes you have to make a choice.

“Jermain and Robbie Keane can play well together but sometimes, when there is a long ball from Paul Robinson, it is a bit difficult.

“I favour someone who is strong and can hold up a ball to give more space for the midfield players. I always ask Sven why he never plays Jermain with Owen and he says ‘it’s a bit difficult...’ so ask him.

“And it is not about one player. We have three or four strikers here, including Rasiak. I have said all along that Jermain is probably the best finisher in England. Hopefully he has improved his game in the time he has not been playing because that is the only thing you can do.”

Defoe struck in the 14th minute via a deflection off Luke Young and Jenas made it 2-0 just before the break.

Defoe needed just 46 seconds after the restart to put Spurs 3-0 ahead and Jerome Thomas’ strike for Charlton was nothing but a consolation.

Charlton manager Alan Curbishley admitted Spurs were the better side.

He said: “Spurs deserved their win. I have no complaints. They set their stall out but we never did. You will never get anything from a game if you attack it the way we did today.

“We need to get our noses in front to give ourselves a chance and we didn’t do that today.”

Opta Fact: This was the first time Jermain Defoe scored more than once in a Premiership game since 2004.

Opta Fact: No Premiership side has conceded more right-footed goals than Charlton this season.

TOTTENHAM: Robinson, Stalteri, King, Gardner, Kelly, Lennon (Jackson 45), Jenas, Carrick, Tainio (Huddlestone 25), Keane, Defoe.

CHARLTON: Myhre, Young, Fortune, Hreidarsson, Powell (Spector 68), Ambrose (Bothroyd 75), Smertin, Kishishev (Thomas 53), Hughes, Marcus Bent, Darren Bent.

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).