Premiership: We have given Spurs fans hope - Hoddle

Glenn Hoddle feels Tottenham fans are at last beginning to believe in their team.

The Spurs boss has so far guided his men to the Worthington Cup final with performances which saw them hit Bolton for six and put five past Chelsea along the way.

The FA Cup appears to be opening up too, as only a couple of home ties against Bolton and then Tranmere who they also beat in the Worthington Cup stand between Spurs and a place in the quarter-finals.

For Hoddle, this is just the first step on the road to where he wants to take the club, but the former England manager is pleased there is an all-round feeling of belief at White Hart Lane.

‘‘You are never comfortable in this business, but I can see that the progression has started and that is the major thing,’’ said Hoddle.

‘‘The fans have got hope and I think that is important. They have got belief in their team now.

‘‘We have also got a lot of belief in ourselves and we are going to build on that.’’

The next step for Hoddle is consistency in the league and Spurs face a tough test when they entertain high-flying Newcastle tomorrow night looking to complete the double over Bobby Robson’s men.

Hoddle admires what Robson has achieved at St James’ Park and would like his own team to follow that example.

‘‘They have done fantastically well to stay in the top four or five,’’ said Hoddle. ‘‘Bobby is doing a fantastic job and if they stay in the top five, it will be a marvellous achievement.

‘‘It is the sort of thing we have to do, we have got to become very consistent.

‘‘We have already beaten Newcastle on their ground this season and we kept them quiet up there, but Wednesday’s game will be different.

‘‘Alan Shearer is a great player and a great lad. He is always a threat when he is playing against you.

‘‘You cannot go to sleep on him. Now that Newcastle are playing with more confidence they are creating more, so he is even more of a danger.

‘‘They have also got Keiron Dyer back, who is a major threat and a major reason why they are having such a good run. Laurent Robert has now settled in too, and Nol Solano has got his confidence back.

‘‘I expect it to be a very good football match. They have confidence in the way they are playing at the moment, whereas we have come off the back of a 5-1 victory to get into a cup final.

‘‘There seems to be a really good atmosphere about our place on a night game. The fans need to see we need them to get behind us like they did against Chelsea last week and all the ingredients are there for a big night.’’

Hoddle’s main injury worry remains leading scorer Les Ferdinand, who hopes to shake off a neck problem in time to face his former club.

The 14-goal striker has had a few extra days to recover, as Tottenham’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Bolton was called off at the weekend because the pitch was waterlogged.

‘‘Les has an outside chance of playing and he is improving every day,’’ said Hoddle, ‘‘but I shall have to make a late decision on him.

‘‘You have to take the positive out of the postponement because it gave our players a rest. But on the down side, we were on a roll and would have gone into the game in a very positive way.’’

Dean Richards returns to the team after being cup tied in last week’s match against Chelsea and will replace Anthony Gardner, who picked up an ankle knock in that Worthington Cup semi-final.