Dawson: Young Boys clash biggest of my career
With Tottenham set to take on Switzerland side Young Boys tonight for a place in the Champions League group stage, Michael Dawson – the in-form Spurs defender – has labelled the clash the “biggest game I've been involved in.”
With a pot of gold estimated at £15m waiting for the winner, as well as the chance to pit their wits against Europe’s finest, Dawson knows the size of the opportunity at hand. “We've had some big games of late but the reward if we win this game is to go into the group stages of the Champions League and that's where we all want to be,” stated the former Nottingham Forest man. Having spent the summer in South Africa as part of England’s disastrous World Cup campaign – although not actually playing any minutes – Dawson is now one of the most highly-rated centre-backs in the country. Gone are the days he was looked upon as a naive, clumsy and rash defender. Instead there is an added maturity to Dawson’s game since Harry Redknapp took the Tottenham reins, on top of his lion-hearted and dedicated defending he has always possessed.
But now, despite arguably being in the form of his career, he would surely swap all the praise and adulation that has been dumped on his doorstep recently, for a place in the Champions League ‘proper’. Having spent nine months of last season working tirelessly for that coveted fourth spot, it now comes down to just one game against a side they should have no problems of beating in all honesty, as Dawson himself claims: “We put so much effort into finishing fourth last season and we don't want to blow it now. We're so close.” Being 3-2 down from the first leg means Spurs have to win on the night but they’ll still be huge favourites to progress.
Tags: