King vows to carry on

Spurs defender rubbishes retirement talk

By Lewis Rutledge   Last updated: 25th February 2008

Football Carling Cup Final Tottenham Chelsea Ledley King

King: Determined

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Ledley King has insisted that he has a long future ahead of him at Tottenham.

King turned in an impressive performance on his return to the side as Tottenham defeated Chelsea 2-1 in the Carling Cup final on Sunday.

He was risked at Wembley despite having a serious knee problem that has plagued him all season.

Reports have suggested that King may actually have to retire, but he has played down the speculation and vowed to come back stronger than ever.

"I have a lot of football to come and will stay with the team. I'm confident there are more trophies to follow," King told the Evening Standard.

"I have had some problems with the knee. I have played games and then afterwards it's been a bit of a problem.

Confident

"But I am not worried about it one bit. I'm confident.

"At the moment it's a tricky situation, but hopefully I will get it right - even if it's not this season it will be next season.

"My desire has not gone away. I haven't done much training in the last month or so and I'm not 100 per cent at the moment, but once I get my knee right, I will be."

King was happy with how he came through the match and has revealed that he was always confident of victory.

He said: "I was tired as the game went on, this was my first match since the Arsenal game. But my team-mates helped me get through it.

"I always felt winning the Carling Cup was just destined to be, even when we were 1-0 down. If you can do that against Chelsea you have to be a good team."

Woodgate praise

King has also paid tribute to central defensive partner Jonathan Woodgate, who helped restrict Chelsea's opportunities and then scored the winning goal in only his fifth game for Tottenham.

"It was our first game together, and we have trained only twice together before that. He has come in and done a great job," said King.

"He helped me through the game as well and that's what the team is all about. We complement each other."