PAT MOONEY SPEAKS TO LEDLEY KING ABOUT TROUBLED TIMES AT THE lANE

PAT MOONEY SPEAKS TO LEDLEY KING ABOUT TROUBLED TIMES AT THE lANE

LEDLEY King cut a forlorn figure in the stands at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday.

The Spurs skipper had hoped to lead the team against newly-promoted Stoke City but under-fire Tottenham manager Juande Ramos opted to keep King back for tonight's Uefa Cup match against Udinese in Italy.

Now, Spurs will be without their other centre halfs at Stoke, Vedran Corluka and Michael Dawson, for Sunday's home clash against Bolton. Corluka was carried off on a stretcher while his replacement Dawson was sent off late on for a high tackle.

Yet, King, whose career over the past couple of seasons has been hampered by a persistent knee injury, is bullish that the Lilywhites can still turn things round under Ramos.

"All I can say is that the players are 100 per cent behind the manager," King told Ham&High Sport. "There are no problems there. It wasn't so long ago that we won the Carling Cup, beating Arsenal and Chelsea along the way, and things were looking good.

"I don't think there's a massive problem. We're just stuck in a bit of a rut. When you're down there things go against you and it gets harder and harder each week to get out. That's our problem at the moment.

"The manager's calm about the situation and that's rubbing off on the players. We're not worried but we realise we have to get a result but they're not coming."

King admits he is as baffled as most people are why Spurs are struggling at the bottom.

"These things are never easy," he said. "With the players we've brought in, we've got a lot of quality in the side. I think we're overall a better side.

"Obviously, we've lost a few players but I think we're a better squad. There's really no reason why we should be where we are in the league. We've talked about it regularly amongst the players and we're trying to get around it at the moment. It's a difficult one. At the end of the day it's about clicking and it hasn't done that yet.

"Everybody's working hard off the pitch - players, staff - to improve our position. The only thing that's lacking at the moment, basically, is winning games. We're out there trying to win games and it's not through any lack of effort or problems in the camp."

King also revealed he is not worried about the lack of strikers after the departures of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.

"We got two in at the one time with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Fraizer Campbell," he said. "Before that there was a problem. It's tough to have four strikers at a club and only two play.

"Sometimes it doesn't help. That was a bit of a problem when we did have four top strikers so I think three is enough. Darren Bent was scoring goals in pre-season and looking very sharp, and having seen Roman playing in the European Championship I knew he was class player so I was more than happy with that."

Although Spurs are now four points adrift at the bottom King believes Ramos's side will pull away. "There are plenty of games in the season," he said.

"Our aim is to win as many games as we can from now on. I think on our day we can compete with the tops sides there's no doubt, but it's the consistency.

"We've got to beat the lesser teams so to speak and managing to get a result even if you haven't played well. That's what the top four teams do and that's what separates us."

King is obviously feeling restless he cannot play games on a regular basis because of his troublesome knee.

"Of course it is frustrating," he said. "I want to be on the pitch every week playing. At the moment all I can do, due to the fact my knee has been a problem, is work as hard as I can off the pitch and make myself available for as many games as I can.

"The manager and I speak on a regular basis and he's helping me as much as he can.

"He's left me out to make sure I'm ready for other games. As long as the communication is there I've got no problem."

pat.mooney@hamhigh.co.uk