JONATHAN Woodgate this week warned his Tottenham team-mates that Chelsea will wipe the floor with us if Spurs don t improve on their woeful early season form. The Lilywhites, beaten at Middlesbrough on the opening day, crashed 2-1 to Sunderland at the

JONATHAN Woodgate this week warned his Tottenham team-mates that Chelsea will "wipe the floor with us" if Spurs don't improve on their woeful early season form.

The Lilywhites, beaten at Middlesbrough on the opening day, crashed 2-1 to Sunderland at the Lane on Saturday - and on Sunday visit the Blues. And if Juande Ramos's side return empty-handed from the Bridge it will be the club's worst start to a season for nearly 30 years.

"Two defeats is not good enough," Woodgate told Ham&High Sport. "The only thing we can look at is that we've got plenty of games to put it right.

"It was not a very good display against Sunderland. They did exactly what Boro did in the first game. Sunderland worked their socks off all over the pitch, put two banks of four behind the ball and played well.

"We go to Chelsea and we have to put on a good display because they will wipe the floor with us if we don't. They are a top side and we have been working hard in training this week to put it right. We have some tremendous players but we are not cutting it at all."

Yet, Woodgate, who played for England in last week's friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley, refused to blame the Dimitar Berbatov saga for the club's poor form.

"It's nothing to do with anyone else," he said. "We've lost two games because we have not played well. It's about us.

"It's got nothing to do with him [Berbatov] if we lost two games. It goes on in football and you've got to be professional and knuckle down until something happens.

"It was the manager's decision to leave him out and whatever the manager does we will back him to the hilt. He makes the decisions and we are not going to ask questions about what he is doing. The football club is bigger than any one player.

"He is a Spurs footballer until something happens. If Man United come in with a bid it is up to the chairman to do the right thing for the football club."

l Spurs were last night close to agreeing a £12 million transfer for striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. The Russian claims he is on his way to the Lane from Spartak Moscow. The deal would clear the way for Berbatov's move to United.