Woodgate rallies Spurs

Defender admits Spurs need to stop selling

Last updated: 30th August 2008

Jonathan Woodgate Tottenham Hotspur

Woodgate: Rallying call

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Jonathan Woodgate insists Tottenham can still break into the top four despite selling Robbie Keane and being on the brink of losing Dimitar Berbatov.

Spurs' start to the season has been overshadowed by the drawn-out Berbatov transfer saga.

Woodgate has issued a rallying call to his team-mates ahead of Sunday's clash with Chelsea as Spurs look to pick up their first points of the campaign.

"Everyone has to work for each other," said Woodgate. "We haven't won the last two games and that's not down to Berba, it's down to ourselves."

Woodgate still has aspirations of eventually qualifying for the UEFA Champions League despite the loss of Keane and the expected departure of Berbatov.

Stop selling

"If we sell guys like Keane and Berbatov then they will buy top players to replace them," Woodgate said. "It keeps going in circles but maybe we have to stop selling.

"I'm not using Spurs as a stepping stone - they're going to be a top club. The players can't help it if people are sold."

Berbatov's proposed move appears to have undermined Tottenham's campaign and Woodgate acknowledges that fans may struggle to sympathise with the Bulgaria striker.

"If it was me, maybe I wouldn't do it in the first place - I would play," Woodgate added. "I would be working for the club as hard as I could until told otherwise but I don't know what has gone on behind closed doors with the manager.

Commitment
"I'll always give 100 per cent wherever I am. If I didn't want to be somewhere, I'd still give my all - every training session, every game, all the time.

"I was happy to come down here from Middlesbrough but the manager will tell you that I would always give my all for the club and that's the way that it has to be.

"Okay, it hasn't exactly boosted the reputation of professional footballers in this country from the supporters' point of view, but there's always two sides to the story."