CENTRE FOURWARD
Defoe isn’t afraid of competition from a trio of others .. he’s fought for a starting place all his career
Jermain Defoe was never short of competition for a starting jersey in both his spells with Tottenham.
The striker shared a dressing room with Robbie Keane, Freddie Kanoute and Mido in his first season at White Hart Lane before rejoining Keane with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch for a second stint in 2009.
Indeed, four seemed to be the magic number when jostling for the No.9 jersey in both his spells at Spurs.
Squad rotation was key and even a hat-trick one week didn’t guarantee you a game the next as Defoe found out to his cost.
So it should perhaps be no surprise that he now reckons Rangers have got the balance right in terms of rotation and competition for places in Steven Gerrard’s frontline.
The arrival of Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten to join Defoe and Alfredo Morelos means Gerrard has four firstteam frontmen jostling for a start.
Veteran marksman Defoe isn’t for shying away from the challenge even if he’s just a couple of weeks away from his 38th birthday.
He marked his first appearance of the season with a goal from the bench against Lincoln Red Imps on Thursday and he’s desperate for the chance to add to it against Hibs this afternoon. Asked if the Rangers attacking options are now at their strongest, Defoe said: “Of course.
“When I arrived Kyle Lafferty was here so there have always been players who can play ahead of you if you are not performing.
“I have had it my whole career, at every club I have been at, including at international level with England.
“I have never been one of those players to look at a situation and be panicked by it.
“You just have to take the chance as it comes, as simple as that.
“I remember when I was at Tottenham under Martin Jol when big squads and rotation systems were being introduced.
“I can remember scoring a hat-trick against Southampton one week. The next week I didn’t play, I got rested.
“That is just the way the game has gone with rotation and stuff like that. As long as you bring something to the team when you play, whether that is starting or coming on, that is the most important thing along with winning matches.”
Defoe would have relished Rangers pulling his old side in the Europa League play-off draw on Friday to set up a Battle of Britain contest should they get past Willem II when they travel to Holland this week.
As it was, the sides were kept apart but Defoe would love a crack at Spurs later in the competition – and insists it would be no gimme for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Even the return of another of his old White Hart Lane team-mates, Gareth Bale, wouldn’t faze Defoe, although he admits it’s a fairytale seeing him back in north London. He said: “It is a massive signing.
“It is sort of like a fairytale story with him coming back to Tottenham.
“He was linked with all those other teams, as you could imagine because he is a top player, so to see it happen now is amazing.
“I hope he goes and does well. The attacking options that Mourinho has now look frightening, to be honest. I just want to wish him all the best.
“It has been difficult for him. I know Gareth as a person. He is a nice guy, a family man and a top player.
“All he has to do now is play football and be happy. That is when we are at our happiest – when we’re playing.
“For me, playing against Tottenham, would be special and emotional.
“At the same time, I look at our squad and think: ‘ You know what? We could actually go there and compete.’
“I think we showed that during the last campaign in Europe. You are playing against these top teams and top managers and actually competing and doing well. You never know.
“You look at a lot of the players in the team and the European campaign last season and that brings conf idence. We know that we can match these teams physically.”
In the meantime, it’s the bread and butter of the Scottish Premiership and this afternoon’s intriguing trip to face Hibs.
The Easter Road side are looking for a win to draw level with Gers on 19 points and Defoe has been impressed with what he’s seen of Jack Ross’ side.
He said: “They’ve made a good start, they seem confident.
“They have got a good manager, a nice person. I have actually spoken to him.
“When he was at Sunderland I went to a game and I actually spoke to him brief ly down the
tunnel. I spoke to some of the boys at Sunderland and they said he is a good coach.
“Hibs are a team that have got off to a good start and Easter Road is always a difficult place to go anyway.
“However, we are going into the game confident.
“We have scored a lot of goals and we haven’t conceded, which is a brilliant record and a credit to the boys at the back.
“To be fair, not just the lads at the back, the whole team. We defend from the front, we do a lot of work on the training pitch.
“We go into the game confident but we know it’s not going to be easy.
“We have to go there and put in those same performances that we have been doing.”