Strike duo can succeed - Carrick

Tottenham midfielder Michael Carrick disagrees with manager Martin Jol’s claims that Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane are incompatible strike partners.

With Egypt striker Mido suspended and new arrival Grzegorz Rasiak cup-tied, Jol was forced to play Defoe and Keane alongside each other during yesterday’s humiliating Carling Cup 1-0 defeat at Grimsby.

But after their ineffective display left Spurs with a dismal record of just one goal in their last five matches, Jol reiterated his view that the duo are simply too similar to one another.

However, while Keane and Defoe’s performance against Grimsby left Jol convinced the pair cannot operate effectively in tandem, Carrick begged to differ.

The midfielder, one of five England internationals to start against the League Two leaders, said: “When you’ve got two players of the calibre of those two, they are so good that I don’t see why people are saying they can’t play together.

“They are two quality players and they are two quality players that you want in your team.

“It’s up to the manager who he wants to play, but they are good players and I don’t think you can’t write either of them off.”

After experiencing what he termed the worst defeat of his spell as Spurs boss, Jol pointed an accusing finger at Keane and Defoe for their “immature” performances at Blundell Park.

The Dutchman said: “It was nothing new, because that’s been my story all along. That’s why I like somebody who can hold the ball up and a little fellow who can work the defence.

“We aren’t scoring goals and we don’t look like scoring goals, which is even worse and not good enough.

“You have to make the difference up front but sometimes against Grimsby we looked a bit immature.”

Carrick insisted Tottenham’s players should accept collective responsibility for the morale-sapping defeat, which arguably ended the club’s most realistic chance of silverware this season.

Jol fielded the strongest side available to him – including a total of 10 internationals in his starting line-up – but Russell Slade’s battling side ultimately proved too resilient for Tottenham’s array of multi-million pound talent and Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala’s volley ended the Premiership side’s interest in the competition.

“We didn’t pass the ball well and we didn’t play well in ourselves,” admitted Carrick.

“We expect to win every game we play but football is not always like that. The gaffer put out a very strong team and we wanted to win the game, but obviously we haven’t done that.”

Now goalless for over a month, Defoe is clearly struggling for form while Keane appears destined to struggle to play regular first-team football under Jol.

But midfielder Lee Young Pyo, who admitted to being “shocked” and “disappointed” at his humbling, maiden experience of English cup football, joined Carrick in pledging support for Tottenham’s goal-shy attack.

“I’m very, very disappointed and shocked because I never thought we would lose the match,” he said.

“We couldn’t score and they had one good chance and they scored. But I’m not worried and I believe in our strikers and I think they will get better.”

Spurs now face a London derby against Fulham on Monday and Carrick admits the pressure is on them to respond positively to the Carling Cup exit.

“It’s a big game for us and we need to bounce back now,” added the former West Ham star.