Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe has ruled out leaving White Hart Lane, insisting he remains committed to the club.
Striker ready to fight for his place
Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe has ruled out leaving White Hart Lane, insisting he remains committed to the club.
Defoe's future has been the subject of speculation after failing to nail down a regular place in Harry Redknapp's starting XI.
Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart have been preferred to Defoe in attack with the 29-year-old forced to play a bit-part role off the bench.
Queens Park Rangers have been credited with an interest in Defoe as Neil Warnock looks to bolster his attacking options in January.
However, Defoe insists he is going nowhere and that he is prepared to wait for his chance to stake his claim for a place in Spurs' side.
"Fans who have probably read things come up to me every day and say, 'Don't leave the club'. I was at a charity dinner the other night when a fan came up and said it to me," Defoe told the
Daily Mirror.
"I've done it before - when I went to Portsmouth and scored my goals to remind people what I can do - but I am committed to Tottenham. I love the club and I love the fans.
"It's a really important time for the club. Everyone wants to play their part and I'm no different."
Euro fears
Defoe did concede that he fears his lack of first-team football could cost him a place at Euro 2012 with England.
The former West Ham and Portsmouth man has been overlooked for the last few England squads by Fabio Capello and he does not want to miss out on next summer's finals in Poland and Ukraine after missing the 2006 World Cup.
"I won't lie, I am worried about not going to the European Championship. I want to give myself every chance," added Defoe.
"It feels already a little bit like the 2005-06 season, when I scored a lot of goals but didn't start a lot of matches. I ended up not going to the World Cup and I don't want that to happen again.
"I believe that if I am playing, I have got a real chance of going to the Euros. But I'm going to bide my time.
"I'm 29. I know that the reason I have been left out of the last few England squads is that I have not been starting for my club.
"Darren Bent has been playing regularly for Aston Villa and Danny Welbeck has been playing for Manchester United. So they are getting picked ahead of me."
