Jenas rallies Tottenham’s derby troops

Man Utd 1 Tottenham 1

Spurs go into next Saturday’s White Hart Lane showdown in the unusual position of being able to peer down on Arsene Wenger’s men in the Premiership following their 1-1 draw at Manchester United.

Jenas’ brilliant free-kick earned Tottenham a share of the spoils and though Charlton’s win at Portsmouth pushed Martin Jol’s impressive outfit into third spot, they remain three points clear of Arsenal.

It is six years - and 12 games - since Spurs’ long-suffering fans tasted victory over their old rivals.

But Jenas believes his team-mates have every reason to be confident ahead of the latest clash.

“Bring on Arsenal, that’s what I say,” said Jenas. “They are a great team and we have a lot of respect for them. But we are very confident at the minute and, on home soil, why shouldn’t we fancy our chances of getting a win.”

Jenas accepts Tottenham still have a long way to go before they reach Jol’s lofty ambitions for the club, but they are moving in the right direction.

With seven English players in Saturday’s starting line-up, they are also doing their bit to nurture home-grown talent too.

And Jenas, a £9million capture from Newcastle in August, thinks Spurs have every reason to be optimistic about the future.

“We are still learning and it is important to try to maintain what we have started,” said the 22-year-old England international. “But the job Martin is doing is great for Tottenham and English football.

“We have so many young players in the team, with so much character and attitude, it can only be good news.”

However, Jol was furious with referee Uriah Rennie for the booking that will rule Edgar Davids out of the north London derby.

After letting the game flow for an hour, including letting Manchester United midfielder Alan Smith escape with one scything lunge on Davids, Rennie suddenly started pulling his cards out.

“About a minute earlier, the referee had thanked Edgar for not making a meal of the challenge by Smith. Then Edgar does the same thing to Smith and he gets booked,” said Jol.

He added: “It was his first foul and normally in Europe they leave the first one. I like the referee and he let the game flow in the first half which the players appreciated.

“But sometimes you need to have a feel for these things and after what went on before, it was a harsh decision.”

United boss Alex Ferguson saw another two points slip away, and admitted: “All we can do is stick together, there is no other way to do it.

“Apart from set-pieces, Tottenham were never really a danger to us but the free-kick from Jenas changed the whole shape of the game.”

Opta Fact: Man Utd are the only team Jermaine Jenas has scored two Premiership goals against - his highest tally versus any club.

Opta Fact: United have won only one of their last six Premiership games at Old Trafford.