England hopeful to start as Jol opts for his costly trio

Jol is looking to play his new £16.5m striker up front with Dimitar Berbatov, who joined for £11m from Bayer Leverkusen last year, while using £7m hitman Robbie Keane in a deeper role.

The trio will make up the most expensive strikeforce to start a game for Tottenham, but Jol is determined to bounce back straight away from the defeat to Sunderland on the opening day of the Premier League season.

England coach Steve McClaren will also be at White Hart Lane tonight to check on the form of Bent, Jermain Defoe and Everton's Andy Johnson.

All three are in the frame to play in next week's Wembley friendly with Germany and next month's Euro qualifiers with Israel and Russia after striker Wayne Rooney was ruled out for two months with a broken bone in his left foot.

Bent is keen to impress having only come on as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Roy Keane's side when Spurs managed only one shot on target.

The striker was disappointed to be left out of the first match of the season but accepted Jol's decision with good grace.

He said: "If you are not pulling your weight then there are three other strikers that can keep you out of the team.

"Every striker can score 20 goals but if you are not playing well then you won't be in the team. I don't see why I should go somewhere just because I am guaranteed to feature in every game. I am not going to become a better player doing that," he told the Daily Star.

Keane and Berbatov, who showed his disgust at being replaced by Bent on Saturday, will get another chance to show more of the form that made them Jol's first choice front duo last season.

But it means Defoe will be left out of the starting line-up once again, confirming his position as fourth-choice striker.

Paul Robinson said that Michael Chopra's late winner for Sunderland has left the players with a bitter taste but he is determined to put things right against Everton.

"We wanted to get off to a good start and we have done the complete opposite. The only good thing is that our next game is at home and we've got to get our season on track.

"We didn't deserve to win the game as we did not play well but I thought we should have nicked a point."

Tottenham have been dealt a blow with defender Michael Dawson facing two weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Tottenham were planning to take a gamble on his fitness tonight after the England international suffered a sprain on Friday, but he complained of feeling more pain after a training session yesterday.

He will now need to take some time out to recover, leaving Jol to decide between Anthony Gardner or Ricardo Rocha to play alongside Younes Kaboul in central defence.

Everton's £6million new boy Leighton Baines is missing tonight with a hamstring injury.

Everton are expected to field an unchanged side at White Hart Lane, where they won impressively last season after 21 years without a victory there.

Manager David Moyes, who has James McFadden back in his squad after a knee injury, said: "This is Tottenham's first home game of the season, and that in itself will give them a lift. We know we have got to go there and be hard to beat and put on a good show.

"Tottenham and Martin Jol have invested heavily in the transfer market this summer to improve again, so we know that it is going to be a really difficult game."