Dawson saves drama for pitch

HARRY REDKNAPP has always had the air of an EastEnders character about him, and the Tottenham Hotspur manager did little to disabuse anyone of that notion with a post-match summation that could just as easily have been delivered over a pint in the Queen Vic.

Need a little convincing? How many of his contemporaries would have used a term as Cockney as ‘toe rag’ in discussing the burgeoning spirit in the camp at White Hart Lane? Redknapp was discussing the amiable characteristics of his England defender Michael Dawson, a proud Yorkshireman who is more Emmerdale than Walford, whose first goal of the season cancelled out a deft early strike from Asamoah Gyan.

“Clubs aren’t just about having wonderful players,” Redknapp insisted after a victory which extended his side’s impressive run to a single league defeat in 15 games to take them into fourth place above Chelsea.

He added: “There are a lot of good players who’re toe rags who you wouldn’t have near you for all the money in the world.

“We’ve got plenty of great lads in our ranks like Michael, who gives you everything. He works hard, he trains hard and when he was left out, he didn’t come in and say, “I can’t travel, I’ve got a bad back” or something like that. He’s no toe rag or prima donna. If you have people who don’t appreciate being at a good club like this, then they can go somewhere else to play.”

Few soap opera script writers could have conjured up the kind of plot twist provided by the Tottenham manager.

Harry Redknapp praised the spirit of the squad after coming from behind to win again — this time at Sunderland on Saturday.

The 2-1 victory — a sixth Premier League win on the road this season — came after Asamoah Gyan shot the home side into an 11th-minute lead at the Stadium of Light.

Michael Dawson claimed the equaliser after meeting Steven Pienaar’s corner just before the break — William Gallas might have got a touch — and it was left to Niko Kranjcar to volley home a wonderful winning goal from 20 yards in the 57th minute.

It was the sixth time we’ve recovered from losing positions in the Premier League this season — an amazing 20-point turnaround in matches — and the win takes Spurs past 1,000 points in the Premier League.

“This team doesn’t give up and there is a great spirit at the club,” said Redknapp.

“It’s difficult to come back when you go behind in the Premier League but we’ve managed to do it again.”

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn’s thinly veiled suggestion that he is prepared to stand down over the continued absence of thousands of Sunderland fans who watch home games in pubs via illegal satellite transmissions was nothing more than an exercise in sabre rattling, on the pitch, Steve Bruce insists his side aren’t missing Darren Bent, and the fact they haven’t failed to score in the four games since the England forward’s acrimonious move to Aston Villa would appear to back that up.

If anything, it appears that Sunderland’s defenders are pining for their departed team-mate, having seemingly forgotten the art of defending from set-pieces, not that they spend much time on the training ground trying to rectify their travails.

“It’s something we don’t really do,” Bruce conceded after a first home defeat to the London club for almost a decade. He added: “We practice attacking set-pieces, but not for those against. It’s difficult because if you put it in there and people are competing for it, they get hurt. Maybe I’ll look at it.”

Maybe he should. Looking is what most of his defenders, skipper Titus Bramble in particular, were doing as Dawson was allowed to rise unchallenged to head Niko Kranjcar’s corner through Craig Gordon’s legs for the softest of levellers on the stroke of half-time.

It allowed the visitors a foothold their early efforts hadn’t merited, but it was one they took full advantage of as Kranjcar completed Tottenham’s latest comeback, making it 20 points the visitors have gathered this season from losing positions, with a crisp volley after pouncing on a weak defensive header by John Mensah.

Sunderland’s mid-season wobble threatens to arrive somewhat later this year after a fourth defeat in six games at the usually foreboding Stadium of Light denied them an opportunity to reclaim sixth place from Liverpool.

A lengthy injury list again proves the major impediment and perhaps their only solace is the two-week break before their return to action, which gives valuable time to rest weary limbs and welcome back long-term absentees after suffering three consecutive league defeats for the first time under Bruce.

“We’ve got Everton, Arsenal Liverpool and Man City coming up,” the manager said, with a dose of realism which predictably failed to lift flagging spirits on Wearside.

He added: “We must make sure we hang on in there.”