After his winning goal in Saturday’s 3-1 win over West Brom, manager Harry Redknapp was quick to heap praise on the striker. JD only broke into this winning side after an injury to Rafael van der Vaart but he resumed his potent pairing with Emmanuel Adebayor and rounded off the performance with the crucial goal on 81 minutes.
“Jermain looks sharp and he’s been unlucky, Rafa has been playing so well,” said Harry.
“We had a reserve game on Tuesday, he scored five goals against Charlton and I knew he was ready.
“He’s been desperate for a chance and he took it. I thought some of his play in the second half was fantastic. There was a passing move with Adebayor in the second half that would have been an incredible goal.”
Jermain added that he was confident of finding the net as he ran on to Ade’s pass.
“As soon as I picked it up I noticed straight away that I was one-on-one,” he said.
“I’ve always worked on my finishing from that sort of distance and it all comes naturally.
“When I get in that position I’m confident I’ll hit the target and make the goalkeeper work. I was delighted to see it go in and after that I knew we’d go on to win.”
When VDV regains fitness, it seems likely that he will come straight back into the side but many will see that as being unfair on JD, who is linking up so well with Adebayor when given the chance.
It is interesting to see the meduia trying to whip up a story about Defoe going out on loan. He clearly is an integral part of the Spurs team and will get his chance during the season as will Gallas and others on the subs bench. He is going nowhere.