Toon are off track
Toby forecasts rest ahead of clash
TOBY ALDERWEIRELD has finally come back down to Earth after the maddest weekend of his life.
The Tottenham defender, 30, endured such a manic few days that he ditched plans to fly to Belgium on Sunday so he can recover ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League home clash against RB Leipzig.
He became a father for the second time when wife Shani gave birth to a son Jace in the early hours of Friday morning.
But that was just the start of a crazy 48 hours of storm-hit travel that concluded with him scoring for both sides in Spurs’ 3-2 win over Aston Villa.
He set Villa on their way with a first-half own goal but then made amends with the equaliser.
Alderweireld said: “A lot happened. I slept maybe an hour, I woke up, went for a run to keep my muscles going.
“On Saturday, I was planning to fly from Antwerp to Birmingham but because of the weather I wasn’t able to fly.
“So I took a car from Antwerp to Brussels, from Brussels, a train to London and from London, a car to Birmingham.
“It was like an eight-hour trip and I joined the team Saturday evening and Sunday I played. It was difficult.
“I don’t want to put it as the reason for my performance. Of course, maybe it was a little bit of a reason but I’m very happy with the three points. The team helped me.”
It is no surprise that Alderweireld has taken the decision to rest up ahead of the big Champions League night against the German side in the round of 16.
He added: “I could have flown back to Belgium Sunday night but I decided not to do that. I need to rest in London because Wednesday is a big game.
“I’ll stay in London. I think my wife is coming back on Wednesday. So a couple of difficult days for me, because I don’t see my son, but I will be fine.”
And Spurs star Heung-min Son says hitting a half-century has set himself up nicely for the European battle.
The forward scored twice in the win at Villa to make it 51 league goals in a Tottenham shirt – a landmark he was not even aware of.
He said: “I didn’t realise at the time, but afterwards people told me I have 51 goals for Spurs now.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, but without my team-mates, the supporters, the club, I think it would be impossible.”
Now Son has set his sights on Leipzig, adding: “We believe we can make good games against Leipzig.”
FOUR Newcastle stars were involved in an ugly spat on a train with a Geordie fan after their hammering at Arsenal.
The club have claimed that Danny Rose, Allan SaintMaximin, Nabil Bentaleb and Christian Atsu did nothing wrong after a video emerged of a fan dishing out his thoughts following their 4-0 defeat.
Rose verbally stood up for himself but the row has been played down by Newcastle and the players won’t face any consequences from Steve Bruce.
The Toon boss insists the scoreline was harsh and that his players performed well before the floodgates opened.
“We have been difficult to beat, so that is hard to take,” he said. “In two minutes the game was gone. The first half was as good as we’ve played for a long time but we must defend better.”