Camden Sports - Michael Dawson: ‘Spurs don’t fear United’
Published: 22 April, 2010
MICHAEL Dawson believes Spurs have nothing to fear ahead of Saturday’s high-noon crunch clash against Manchester United.
The stand-in skipper’s name rang out across White Hart Lane on Saturday after he put in a commanding display in the 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
Having also beaten north London rivals Arsenal recently, Spurs will travel to Old Trafford in confident mood, with Dawson declaring that his team-mates are raring to go in the lunchtime kick-off.
“We go to United with no fear. We’ll play with confidence and hopefully we can come away with something.”
Dawson, who Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez described as “the best centre-back in Britain”, insisted that Spurs had firmly banished any blues after the shock FA Cup semi-final defeat by Portsmouth two weeks ago.
“If you’d have said that we’d get six points against Arsenal and Chelsea it would have felt a bit unreal, but we’ve gone out and done just that,” said the World Cup hopeful.
After watching Dawson keep Didier Drogba quiet on Saturday, beaming boss Harry Redknapp said: “Dawson has been outstanding. If you’re looking for a central defender to play for England, you won’t do any better than him.”
Meanwhile, striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has handed Redknapp another boost by declaring after the Chelsea victory that he finally feels settled at the club.
The Russian was linked with a move away from the Lane in January, but now wants to stay and fight for the team. Having finally been given a run in the side, netting 10 goals in 20 games, the Russian international said: “I feel I have the manager’s trust and do my best not to let him down.
“I have dropped all my previous ideas about leaving Spurs in the summer and I am concentrated on one thought only – what we need to do to finish fourth.”