Daniels eyes revival
Now be clever clogs says
CHARLIE DANIELS hopes tomorrow’s home clash with Watford can spark a Bournemouth revival.
The Cherries have lost eight of their last 10 league games after winning seven of their first 10, and Daniels, right, says beating Watford could be the catalyst for a return to form.
“If we can go on a run like we did at the start of the season, then the season will turn out a lot better,” said the defender. “If we can pick up another three points then we can start building from there.
“If we win that game at home with the crowd behind us, things will start to look a bit rosier.”
Daniels says Bournemouth are not too down about their slump, given most of their defeats came against top-six sides.
“We have lost against the big teams and have had some crucial games in between, which we won,” he said. “We beat Brighton and Huddersfield and they were six crucial points, so we’ve shown we can do it.”
Troy Deeney is likely to return to the starting line-up for Watford. Andre Gray (leg), Sebastian Prodl (knee) and Adalberto Penaranda (foot) all missed Saturday’s draw with Newcastle, while Christian Kabasele also did not feature after a collision with the frame of the goal during the Boxing Day defeat by Chelsea.
The Bluebirds are the only Premier League opponents Kane has never scored against, and penalty king Neil Etheridge wants to keep it that way.
Kane, a two-time Golden Boot winner, has scored against 26 of the 27 top-flight opponents he has faced. Cardiff are the sole exemption and Etheridge, who made his third penalty save of the season in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Leicester, is on a hot streak.
He will be bidding to make it three clean sheets on the spin knowing Spurs are stinging after their title chase took a big jolt in the 3-1 home defeat to Wolves on Saturday.
“Obviously I’m doing my job and two clean sheets on the bounce is fantastic,” said Etheridge.
“Tottenham have been pretty much unstoppable lately. They scored 11 goals in two games and then lost on Saturday. It’s a very tough league and it doesn’t matter who you play against.
“But with players like Kane and Dele Alli everyone knows how strong Tottenham are. They lost to Wolves, which is tough for them. They will want to bounce back. It’s at home, it’s the Premier League. Anyone can beat anyone.”
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock is backing his defence to keep Kane quiet again. “We hope that record will continue and it will be nice if it does. We did well against him at Wembley,” said Warnock.
“We’ve coped quite well with a lot of top strikers this season and he’s just another one. On a good day, though, it doesn’t matter what you do against Harry Kane because he will cut you to shreds. He is the real deal, hard-working and clinical.”
Cardiff defender Greg Cunningham says Kane and his Spurs team-mates will not be in for an easy ride.
“We know it’s going to be a tough match, especially after they lost to Wolves. But we’re growing in confidence and we know we’re more than capable of holding our own in this league,” he said.
“We’ve been picking up a lot of points at home and the fans have been phenomenal. Our stadium is so loud and very intimidating for teams to come to.” Cunningham would love to put on a show for the home supporters who were not part of the sell-out MAURICIO POCHETTINO has called on his players to be “clever” in dealing with the disappointment of losing to Wolves in the final game of 2018. A successful festive period otherwise had seen Tottenham creep up to second place and just off the coattails of leaders Liverpool going into the final round of games.
But after the disappointing performance at Wembley was followed by Liverpool’s rout of Arsenal later on Saturday at Anfield, party who made the Leicester on Saturday.
The Republic of Ireland international said: “They were as vocal as ever and it spurs us on. They’re our 12th man, especially when we’re away from home and up against it. They really do make a difference, so to get that goal and win for them on our travels was sweet.”
Spurs hit Everton for six in their last away game and lie third, with five losses this season, while Cardiff were hit by a five-goal salvo from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s revitalised Manchester United in their last home game.
“We’ve really improved at the back in the last couple of games after that United debacle,” said trip to Spurs are back in third place and nine points off the top.
Pochettino, left, fears that gap could become even wider in the New Year if his players allow that Wolves result to hang over them when they travel to face Cardiff this afternoon.
He said: “We need to be clever enough to try to move on, to be competitive, because it’s going to be tough. It is going to be a very difficult test for us after a bad defeat against Wolves. We hope the