Trial won’t affect Spurs preparation, vows Bond
WATFORD vs TOTTENHAM
TOTTENHAM assistant coach Kevin Bond insists the ongoing trial involving the club’s manager Harry Redknapp will not disturb his side’s preparations ahead of tonight’s FA Cup fourth round London derby against Watford at Vicarage Road.
Redknapp has not been able to take a training session this week as he has been at Southwark Crown Court contesting two counts of cheating the public revenue, but is due to return to the dugout this evening.
“Clearly the manager is not here, but very little has changed really,” said Bond, whose club will give fitness tests to Gareth Bale, Scott Parker and Younes Kaboul. “Everybody has been getting on with things. We had a similar scenario a few weeks ago when Harry had a small heart procedure.”
Watford, 18th in the Championship, will be targeting a major upset, but manager Sean Dyche believes such acts of giant killing are much rarer than during his playing days.
“The gap is a financial gap and the way a club like Spurs go about their business with recruitment is a completely different thing now, so it’s become a lot tougher,” said Dyche, who played for Chesterfield in the 1997 FA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough.