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Goal hero Defoe calls on Ramos to play him from start
Simon Johnson10 Dec 2007
Jermain Defoe today urged manager Juande Ramos to give him a chance in the first team so he can help Tottenham stay clear of relegation trouble.
Defoe scored his first league goal since April to secure a 2-1 win over Manchester City after coming on as a substitute for his fifth straight match.
Ramos has given the England international, who has yet to sign a new contract, just one start since he took over in October. But he denies Defoe is fourth choice behind Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent.
He was expected to start against Manchester City because Keane was starting his three-game suspension, but lost out to the ineffective Bent instead.
Defoe said: "I don't know what I have to do to get in the starting line-up. I've always said that when I get an opportunity, I will always try to do my best.
"I do believe that if I do play and get a rhythm I will score goals. I just want to help the team. I just want to play and get goals.
"Robbie is suspended at the moment and it gives me a chance, but I will see what happens. The manager has picked the same team more or less every week.
"I didn't start against Manchester City and I was disappointed, but I didn't show it and when I came on I just wanted to go out there and make an impact.
"If someone had told me I'd have to wait until December to score my first league goal of the season, I wouldn't have believed them, but hopefully I can get a few more now.
"It has been a difficult season for everyone, we've had no luck and conceded lots of goals in the last minute. But I said to the boys this could be the turning point of our season and I believe it because of the quality in our dressing room."
Meanwhile, defender Young-Pyo Lee was left furious with Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland after his ugly two-footed tackle left his legs covered in cuts.
Ireland was sent off by referee Mark Halsey shortly before Defoe's winner, and Lee said: "It was a red card, it was a bad tackle. It happened so quickly, but I have marks all over my legs."
