Jol paying no heed to Sevilla swaps - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

Jol paying no heed to Sevilla swaps

Tottenham manager Martin Jol is adamant Sevilla's rotation policy has not affected his preparations for Thursday night's UEFA Cup clash with the high-flying Spanish side.

Sevilla boss Juande Ramos has regularly shuffled his pack this season as the reigning UEFA Cup champions look to mount challenges on three different fronts.

Jol said: "No [it hasn't affected us] because we know that Sevilla have two or even three quality players in every position. This is what they do. Even in the UEFA Cup they play with four or five changes all the time and you can't see the difference."

The latest example came during last weekend's goalless league draw with Osasuna, where Ramos rested key duo Daniel Alves and Andres Palop while starting with top scorer Frederic Kanoute on the bench.

Those three, who have all been struggling with knocks recently, are all likely to return for the UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg against Spurs, with further changes from the Osasuna match also expected.

Jol added: "Maybe against Osasuna it was a bit different, but in the UEFA Cup and all these matches you always see different names involved. I feel that Sevilla have a terrific squad."

Spurs are set to come face-to-face with their former striker Kanoute.

The Mali international had mixed success during his time at White Hart Lane, netting just 14 league goals in his two seasons at the club.

He also struggled for goals is his first year at Sevilla after moving from Spurs in a £4.4million deal in 2005, but he has been a revelation this season and currently leads the Primera Liga scoring charts with 19 strikes.

Jol said: "We followed him last year and he scored seven goals, which was the same as when he was in England, when he scored seven or eight goals. But this year he has certainly improved. He gets all the quality crosses. We all knew Freddie Kanoute is a quality striker and he proved that in England as well."

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