Hoddle set to unleash Keane

Glenn Hoddle will finally unleash Tottenham’s £7m (€11.2m) striker Robbie Keane on West Ham in Sunday’s London derby at White Hart Lane.

And he predicts the Irishman’s new fans and team-mates will instantly fall in love with him.

Spurs boss Hoddle left the former Leeds man on the bench in midweek when Fulham hit back with a dramatic three-goal burst to shatter Spurs hopes of retaking the Premiership top spot at Loftus Road in midweek.

Hoddle said: “I didn’t pick Robbie to start because I felt we might have needed a bit more aerial strength with Teddy Sheringham and Les Ferdinand. We planned to put him on at some stage but then injuries to other players on the night dictated our substitutions.

“West Ham will be a different story, though. I’m not going to say he’ll definitely start because that would be giving too much away, but I know people are dying to play with him here.

“It is not a cockiness with Robbie but he has got great confidence in his own ability and he’s a good bubbly character.

“We’ve seen already in training how he has this eye contact with the midfield players and he’s a player who is great to watch and easy to play with. You get used to his style instantly.

“It’s amazing to think he’ still just 22 and has done so much with some major clubs and also Ireland in a World Cup.

“He’s a fantastic player already. So what will he be like at his peak? That prospect excites me because he’ll be here. It is all about the next three, four and five years with Robbie not just one match.

“We’ll judge him at the end of the season but we will still know there’s a lot more to come from him. Contrary to what some people have said he was always somebody I wanted to sign here. He knows that and he appreciates it.”

Keane will be itching for his chance having spent frustrating spells on the bench at both Inter Milan and Elland Road.

And Hoddle has already attracted criticism for leaving him with just a watching brief on Wednesday night as Tottenham tossed away a two-goal lead and lost 3-2.

He said: “It was certainly a self-inflicted result even though I give Fulham full credit for what they achieved in the last 25 minutes.

“The players are still feeling the frustration and we all hurt as much as any of our fans over this. But now I feel a real focus in the camp on putting it right on Sunday.

“It won’t be easy just because West Ham are bottom of the table. They’ll come here fired up and desperate to put points on the board as quickly as possible. From what I’ve seen they’ve played well but just not got the results.

“If you recall, they started like this last season but then Glen Roeder turned it around and they finished higher than us in seventh. There won’t be any realism in the Premiership until people have played 10 games.

“You can’t tell who will win the title at this stage. Like the Grand National, you can’t know where you will finish after clearing just five fences.

“We know we’ve got lessons to learn but I can’t set out my ambitions until I’ve got a lot more of my squad back from injuries.”

Defender Chris Perry expects to get the all-clear tomorrow after initial x-rays showed no fracture in his jaw from a frightening clash with the boot of Fulham’s Pierre Wome on Wednesday night, but Spurs still have nine players on the injury list including Stephen Carr, Darren Anderton, Ledley King and Gustavo Poyet.