Soccer: Rebrov must be patient says Hoddle

Glenn Hoddle has warned unsettled £11million Ukrainian star Sergei Rebrov he must be patient in his bid to nail down a place in a Tottenham team that currently ‘‘picks itself.’’

But boss Hoddle wants to keep former Dynamo Kiev striker Rebrov at White Hart Lane despite keeping him on the substitutes’ bench for every Premiership game since the opening day of the campaign.

‘‘My contract here is to build something over five years not just three months and I’m sure Sergei will have a significant part to play,’’ said the former England coach.

‘‘At the moment we’ve gone with the safe option of using the experience of Teddy Sheringham and Les Ferdinand up front and they have done so well that the team is picking itself.

‘‘But Sergei has come on from the bench several times to good effect and he nearly scored twice at Newcastle on Sunday. I don’t have a doubt about his ability at all.’’

When he took hands-on control at White Hart Lane last week, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said that the club would rely more on investing in the production of their own young players than splashing out for ‘‘expensive established stars’’.

Selling Rebrov would give Hoddle the opportunity to boost his transfer kitty, but still the he denies such a move is part of his plans.

But that is cold comfort for 26-year-old Rebrov, who arrived at White Hart Lane in a blaze of publicity last term.

He first lost his place under former boss George Graham and now his agent has started making veiled public threats warning that unless his client is given a run in the side, he may well feel obliged to ask for a move.

So far, Rebrov has failed to carry out the threat, but claims his former Dynamo strike-partner Alexander Shevchenko has been urging his Italian club Inter Milan to reunite them at the San Siro.

‘‘I’m not worried about what his agent says or doesn’t say,’’ said Hoddle.

‘‘It is my communication with the player that counts and he’s never told me he wants to move.

‘‘Until he does I won’t be losing any sleep over it, but the fact is I’ve got to select the team that I think will get us results and there has certainly been no reason to fault Les and Teddy.

‘‘People say that Sergei can’t play in the same team as Teddy but I don’t think that is true. In fact, when we’ve brought Sergei on from the bench it is usually Les who has been taken off.

‘‘There’s no rotation policy here because you can’t do that unless you have a really big squad. But things change and it could be an option for us to play Teddy and Sergei together in the future.’’

After three Tottenham wins in a row since they unforgettably let a 3-0 half-time lead slip against Manchester United, Rebrov will again find himself on the bench yet again when Spurs entertain Middlesbrough on Saturday.

However, Hoddle is almost certain to have to make changes at the back after Argentine wing-back Mauricio Taricco damaged ankle ligaments in the win at Newcastle.

‘‘He’s had a scan on his ligaments and the results are not as bad as we first feared,’’ said Hoddle.

‘‘If the Middlesbrough game was on Monday or even Sunday he would have had a chance but he’s got to be a doubt for Saturday.’’

Taricco’s absence would mean a return to an orthodox back-four as Stephen Carr, the Republic of Ireland star for whom he has been deputizing, is still out until Christmas after a knee operation.

Ben Thatcher could come in on the left for his first Premiership start of the season following a hip operation in the summer, with Ledley King switching from the centre to the right flank.

Hoddle favours a 3-5-2 line-up but insists: ‘‘We’ve been forced to play 4-4-2 a few times this season because of our injury situation but some critics just haven’t realised it.’’