Parkes wary of Spurs threat

Tottenham will stand between Blackburn and a UEFA Cup place for the second year running on Sunday, with Rovers assistant boss Tony Parkes warning his side to beware a backlash.

Last season, the Lancastrians beat Spurs in the Worthington Cup final when Andy Cole’s goal saw Blackburn to a 2-1 victory and the trophy.

At White Hart Lane this weekend, Blackburn need to win and hope Everton lose or draw against champions Manchester United to take sixth place and a ticket to the competition once again.

Tottenham have endured a poor end-of-season run with just two wins in nine games, culminating in a 5-1 drubbing at Middlesbrough last weekend.

But Parkes said: “Tottenham may have just been beaten 5-1 but it is not always the best time to play teams who have just been battered.

“We saw that with West Brom. They had been beaten 6-0 by Liverpool then came to us and played very well.”

Rovers boss Graeme Souness has virtually a full squad to chose from with only Henning Berg doubtful with a hamstring strain and David Thompson out until next season.

Chris Perry is hoping Tottenham can finish their season with a flourish.

“We all want to finish on a winning note,” said the defender. “We beat Blackburn up at their place and we would like to do the double over them.

“It would be nice to get a win and would be good for the crowd. I’m sure with the news of Teddy Sheringham saying goodbye it should be a good atmosphere for him.”

Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan knows it is the end of an era against Southampton at Maine Road on Sunday but he is already doing some forward planning of his own.

City will finish between eighth and 12th depending on the result against Gordon Strachan’s men – good progress for a club in its first season back in the top flight.

Keegan remains driven, however, and wants to reach the next level and possibly Europe.

“In the last year we have made progress and that pleases me,” he told www.mcfc.co.uk.

“Now we have to try and break into the next bracket in the league next season.

“There is a group trying to get into Europe and then there are the sides which are trying to win the title.

“We are not in with them yet, but we can get in that next group where Everton are. That is a realistic objective.”

Southampton boss Gordon Strachan is undaunted despite the 6-1 pasting his team got at the hands of FA Cup final opponents Arsenal on Wednesday.

The Scot said: “I genuinely do believe we can win the cup. But we will not win it by standing back to watch and admire Arsenal play.

“I’m going to pick the team with the biggest hearts who want to run and who want to close down to give us a chance, because if you don’t do that, then you’ve got no chance.”

Aston Villa manager Graham Taylor believes striker Marcus Allback is ending the season in the kind of form which persuaded him to buy the Swedish international 12 months ago.

Allback will go into Sunday’s final Premiership clash at Leeds looking to extend a run which has brought him four goals in four matches.

Taylor spotted the potential of Allback when he was playing for Dutch side Heerenveen and signed him for £2m (€2.7m) ahead of the 2002 World Cup finals.

Taylor said: “Allback has been performing in the way I saw him play before we signed him last summer.

“He would be the first to say that at the start of the season he was not playing as well as we are seeing now.

“Now we are seeing what he is capable of. He scored twice for Sweden against Hungary, we then put him in the team and he has carried on scoring.”

Midfielder Gareth Barry is available after a two-match suspension.

Danny Mills is relieved Leeds have been able to make sure of Premiership football again next season.

Sunday’s 3-2 defeat of Arsenal at Highbury ended fears of Nationwide League football, while at the same time ending The Gunners’ title hopes.

And England full-back Mills has admitted relegation could have been the end of the West Yorkshire outfit.

He told one newspaper: “The whole enormity of the situation was that if we had got relegated there was every chance the club would have gone into bankruptcy.

“It’s difficult to say, but the majority of players would probably have been okay and found other clubs.

“But we’ve got to feel responsible for all those other people employed by the club.

“Hundreds of staff behind the scenes would have possibly lost jobs as well and, as players, we’re partly responsible for that.”

Junichi Inamoto might be staying at Fulham for another season – but fellow loanee Martin Djetou today described his future as “fuzzy.”

Japan midfielder Inamoto is staying on a second season-long temporary deal from Gamba Osaka rather than the three-year contract extension he was due to sign.

The 23-year-old has been given another 12 months to impress at Loftus Road after making just nine league starts for Fulham and coming off the bench 10 times this term.

But while Inamoto has committed himself to the Londoners ahead of their final match of the season – Sunday’s mid-table capital squabble at Charlton – Djetou is not sure what his future holds.

The 28-year-old utility man is on a season-long loan from Serie A side Parma with a view to a permanent move.

He told his official website: “I’m still fuzzy. One part of me says Fulham are ready to keep me but it all depends on some things. What face the team will have next season?”

Cottagers caretaker coach Chris Coleman must decide whether to stick with Maik Taylor or fit-again Edwin van der Sar against the Addicks.

London pride is not the only thing at stake for Alan Curbishley’s side as £2.5m (€3.5m) prize money – £503,000 (€703,000) for every place – is riding on the game.

Charlton’s own result, aligned to those of the teams around them, could see his team finish anywhere between eighth and 13th.

Charlton staged an inspired mid-season recovery which saw them flirting with the possibility of automatic qualification for Europe before yet another end-of-season slump put an end to those dreams.

Curbishley aid: “You have got to be realistic about what’s going on here.

“We’ve had tough games but if we’d struggled all season and come out of it in the last couple of games we’d have been going in an open-top bus round The Valley with everyone cheering us.”