Graeme Souness is confident that Newcastle can continue climbing the Premiership towards the Champions’ League qualification places when his sidelined players return – with Kieron Dyer the first expected to make a comeback from injury. I just had a gut feeling it was the right thing to do.”But Jewell has warned Filan that he cannot afford to let his standards slip, otherwise he will have no hesitation in recalling Pollitt.”I’ve two great goalkeepers in competition for the shirt, and I think John will realise now he has to play very well to stay in the side.”. I just felt it was the right time to bring John back in.”Obviously, “Polly” wasn’t best pleased and I understand that. What was difficult was he hadn’t done anything wrong and I’d told him previously if he played well he would stay in the side I went against that… The £250,000 bargain buy from Rotherham during the summer had been exceptional after stepping in for John Filan as the Australian recovered from a hernia problem.
But Filan returned for the Carling Cup second-round win over Bournemouth last week and then surprisingly retained his place in the side for the 1-0 league victory at Everton on Saturday.Jewell said: “It was a tough decision to leave Mike out, one of the hardest I’ve ever had to make because he has been fantastic for us. The goalkeeper Mike Pollitt finds himself on the sidelines after starting the Latics’ first five matches of their debut Premiership season.

The Wigan manager Paul Jewell has admitted to abandoning his principles and frustrating a player who had previously not put a foot wrong. We’ve decided to give him a chance because I believe if you are good enough you are old enough.”. The first time I saw him he was only 17 making his league debut.”It’s what a really good team like, for example, Ajax does They throw 17-year-olds in and they do well. Jol added: “Ledley was the game’s outstanding player.”And just in case Spurs fans think the Premiership is becoming a bit of a turn-off, there is Edgar Davids.Jol’s fellow Dutchman may be past his peak but after two games out with a groin injury – and just one booking away from an automatic ban – he did well against Fulham.Jol said: “He makes all the difference He’s like a tiger and leads by example Aaron Lennon is the same.

Jol has been able to call up the young winger Aaron Lennon, the promising capture from Leeds, the experienced Portuguese midfielder Pedro Mendes and the veteran Noureddine Naybet, the defender who has 100 caps for Morocco.The former Deportivo La Coru?tar looked perfectly at home alongside the England hopeful King, who must have impressed the watching Sven Goran Eriksson on Monday ahead of the final World Cup qualifiers next month against Austria and Poland. His investments have proved shrewd, particularly because of injuries to Michael Carrick, Michael Dawson and Wayne Routledge. If we had not had a player sent off against Chelsea I feel we could have got something out of that game also.”With the former sporting director Frank Arnesen having completed his switch to Stamford Bridge it is not quite clear who is continuing to do all the player recruiting at White Hart Lane, although the chairman Daniel Levy would be a good guess. Our back four is solid and, despite injuries, our midfield looks sharp but the rest can be improved.”Not too many are impressed by Totthenham’s rise to fourth place on the back of just three wins but they have also lost only once, apart from the defeat at the hands of Grimsby, when they were beaten 2-0 at home by Chelsea after the striker Mido was sent off.”What we have done is keep five clean sheets,” Jol said “I think we have done well. I have been here long enough to know that, but I feel we have to be more creative in attack. “We had three chances to score another goal in maybe the first three minutes of the second half but in missing them we made things hard for ourselves.”I accept we are not going to win every match by 3-0 or 4-0.

With the fourth-placed Spurs visiting the second-placed Charlton, Jol does not expect an easy ride.
At least the home success over Fulham went some way to erasing the 1-0 defeat at the Coca-Cola League Two side Grimsby last week.”I was still feeling sick about that up to yesterday,” Jol admitted after the Fulham victory, but the Dutchman was not fooled by the somewhat ragged return to winning ways.The Spurs manager was very anxious right to the end after Jermain Defoe’s goal from a Ledley King long ball in the eighth minute had given the home side the lead.Claus Jensen hit the bar and Tomasz Radzinski shot straight at the goalkeeper Paul Robinson from eight yards, but the main frustration for Jol was his own strikers’ shortcomings “We didn’t make things easy for ourselves,” he admitted. However, after the 1-0 win over Fulham on Monday – repeating the victory over the same opposition at White Hart Lane in February – Jol is looking for more success in the capital, at The Valley on Saturday. The Tottenham Hotspur head coach Martin Jol hopes victory in the London derby against Fulham will be followed quickly by another over Charlton. Spurs have a poor record in recent London derbies, winning only one and losing seven out of 10 last season. Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Almunia; Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole; Hleb (Cygan, 90), Fabregas, Flamini, Pires (Clichy, 88); Ljungberg; Reyes (Owusu-Abeyie, 81).