JAY DREAMER
Rodriguez aims to end trophy hunt with Clarets
IF JAY RODRIGUEZ has a dream, then it is to lift a trophy with his hometown club.
He has ticked off most targets – an England cap, almost a decade in the Premier League, and some truly memorable moments along the way, not least a League Cup Final appearance with Southampton.
But that trophy eludes him.
And it would be sweet justice if he were able to help Burnley progress to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup this season, and go closer to that dream, by knocking out Spurs.
Tottenham were the opponents who broke Burnley hearts on an epic run to the semi-final of the same competition back in 2009, when his goal seemed to have put them in the final.
He has nothing but good memories, though.
“I think that cup run was the start of something for us, it gave us belief” he said.
“We were so close. I came on and scored the goal that levelled the tie and at 3-0 up we thought we could do it, but it wasn’t to be.”
What that game did, though, was give them belief.
Against a team of stars – which included a young Gareth Bale and Luka Modric – Burnley produced a titanic performance that has gone down in Turf Moor history, clawing back a 4-1 deficit from the first leg.
In any other competition, with that away goal, it would have been the winner but Spurs scored twice in extra time and progressed 6-4 on aggregate.
It makes him believe a trophy is within grasp: “Yes, 100 per cent, it’s possible. You can have the best quality players but if you don’t have that grit and teamwork together, then it doesn’t stand for anything.
“I genuinely believe we do have a lot here and we can compete with anyone, with the mentality we have. For me, especially in the cup, you have to go all out and go to win it.”
It would mean something special, too, to do it with Burnley, after returning to the club following stints at Saints and West Brom which brought him England recognition.
At Southampton, they were denied a trophy by Manchester United’s late, late winner at Wembley in 2017, scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
But Rodriguez still holds onto the dream and said: “It would be the best feeling ever to win something with your home club.
“We know realistically it’s very difficult, but we are the next step away. You always have to aim high.”
Nuno Espirito Santo welcomes back Matt Doherty for Tottenham’s trip to Burnley but said the right-back will have to fight for a place after missing the last three games since being injured with Republic of Ireland.
Nuno said: “He’s going to be in the squad, but it’s up to us to decide the right moment to integrate players.”
The Spurs manager will use the majority of the squad that lost to West Ham on Sunday and added: “We have players that we need, players that are working hard, maybe with the expectation they will have more minutes.
“It’s up to us to manage all these situations.”