Premiership: Gregory salutes ‘brilliant’ Merson

Tottenham 0-0 Aston Villa

John Gregory praised Paul Merson for an ‘‘absolutely brilliant performance’’ and hailed him as an example to Villa’s younger players.

Merson ran the show for Villa and was unlucky not to have won the game for them but saw his 73rd-minute effort well saved by Spurs goalkeeper Neil Sullivan in the best moment of a disappointing game.

Gregory said: ‘‘Merse was absolutely brilliant today and should have scored. He’s 33 now but after 85 minutes he chased a clearance which went out for a Tottenham goalkick and then sprinted back to his midfield position.

‘‘It sets a great example when somebody of his ability and status is prepared to work from the first minute to the last.’’

The day should really have belonged to French superstar David Ginola, who returned to White Hart Lane for the first time since his summer move to Villa.

Ginola received a heroes’ welcome but was left on the bench by Gregory for 80 minutes and when he finally came on it was too late for him to influence the outcome.

Gregory explained why he had resisted the temptation to start Ginola. He said: ‘‘It crossed my mind, but sometimes I think players who go back to their old clubs don’t do themselves justice.

‘‘Steve Staunton did well for us down the left. I felt we had to stop Steve Carr because he is one of Tottenham’s best attackers and Staunton did a good job for us on that side.

‘‘He also gave us something going forward so we had both sides of the coin,

‘‘I know you can say I could have given David 10 or 15 minutes longer but he’s come on before for the last 10 minutes and turned a few games for us and he nearly did it again today.’’

Gregory believes Villa are lacking a striker to score them 20 goals and is hoping that Juan Pablo Angel will provide the answer next season.

‘‘We should have won the game today,’’ said Gregory. ‘‘That sums up our season. We’ve only lost nine matches. Only Manchester Utd and Arsenal have lost fewer but we have not won enough games.

‘‘Today epitomises our seasons. We’ve got nobody in the team who can score us 20 Premiership goals. But we might have next season if I can get our Colombian, Angel, fit and on the pitch.’’

Angel was missing today because he came back from international duty in Venezuela with a bug.

Tottenham boss Glenn Hoddle was just happy to see his team come through another game without picking up any more injuries.

Hoddle said: ‘‘We got no injuries and a clean sheet which is what we are striving for so I’m happy and I think a draw was a fair result.

‘‘I was a bit concerned at half-time because we played well but did not take our chances when we could have been two goals up.

‘‘We knew that an experienced side like Villa would come back into the game and in the second half we just stopped passing the ball and making movement. That is where our young players will learn.

‘‘We’ve had five games in a very short period of time and because we are down to our barest bones we have no options to freshen it up.’’

Anthony Gardner, who was solid against Dion Dublin and Darius Vassell at the back, impressed Hoddle.

‘‘Anthony looks superb for a young lad and is getting better and better,’’ he said.