Jol set to gamble on attack

Tottenham face the shame of a possible sixth consecutive Premiership defeat at Aston Villa tomorrow - but new head coach Martin Jol insists: "We won't change our new style."

Dutchman Jol has turned his predecessor Jacques Santini's game-plan upside down just by playing new boy Michael Carrick in an attacking midfield role and told Spurs to come out of the shell the Frenchman had built around the side before quitting on Guy Fawkes night.

The result of Jol's reprise of some of the old-style Tottenham flair has been 17 goals in three games, but also two defeats - at home to Charlton and Arsenal - and the only win at Championship side Burnley in the Carling Cup.

Now Spurs visit much-improved Villa who have designs on a top-six placing but Jol said: "Although they have a solid and settled team they are maybe not the club they would like to be yet.

"That's a bit like Tottenham perhaps except I had to have five players in different positions against Arsenal.

"Villa have some talented individuals and it will be another tough test for us but I believe we have to play to our strengths and that is our strikers, Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and Fredi Kanoute.

"It is a gamble playing them all together like against Charlton, but having one of them fresh on the bench is a good bonus for us. To be honest we played against Arsenal last week with nine men behind the ball in the first half and did not concede a corner until the 41st minute.

"But although I can accept that sometimes we lose the ball in midfield, the fact is we were losing it at the back in that game and you can't do that against a team of Arsenal's ability.

"That has nothing to do with attacking football. It is never just black and white but after four months under the new regime here I would have wanted to change our style a bit.

"I can't criticise Jacques Santini for the way he played at the start of the season because I thought it was the right way to begin but when you are Dutch you sometimes say to yourself that this is a dead-end street and you want to change it.

"The trouble is we don't have wingers here and that restricts us. We have some creativity in midfield but sometimes we are too predictable and can punish ourselves. We have to find what is best and I think we did quite a good job against Arsenal."

While Santini soon discovered that the Spurs' managerial system, with Frank Arnesen top dog as sporting director, did not suit him, former West Brom midfielder Jol is only too glad to fit into it as head coach.

"I think we are better with the slight changes we have made," he said, "but we have to prove it with results. If it is on I always want to play football from the back and with an attacking midfielder whether it is home or away."

Jol has Cameroon star Thimothee Atouba available again after a knee injury. He played for his country against Cameroon last week.

Sweden left-back Erik Edman also came through unscathed in his return against Arsenal following five weeks recovering from concussion.

Edman said: "I believe we are actually playing better in the last few games than when we were winning. We beat Newcastle and Everton away which were great results but we didn't play very well.

"It is always going to be about results, of course, but we are confident they will come. Really it has to start on Monday again, we know that, but come around again in a month and I am sure you will see us performing much better."