Potters blow it again

Another mad fifteen minutes saw the Potters throw away another prospect of any points. For the third time this season the Potters have conceded three quick first half goals to leave them with an impossible second half task and the match at White Hart Lane left little to celebrate with the exception of a first goal for new signing, James Beattie.

In fact it was the two new boys, Matt Etherington and Beattie who combined to reduce the deficit in the second half after Spurs had already walked away with the three points with strikes from Lennon, Defoe and Watson well before the half hour mark.

Tony Pulis had chosen to start with the same eleven that took Chelsea to the wire just 10 days earlier, preferring to leave Ricardo Fuller on the bench as he returned from suspension. But he was forced to throw on all three substitutes within five minutes of the restart as Griffin replaced Wilkinson to try and bolster the defence. Sonko had to cover for Abdoulaye Faye who was sick at half-time after suffering with flu. Fuller was then quickly thrown on for Amdy Faye. The Jamaican international had few opportunities in front of goal, but did cause some problems for the home side in the middle of the park.

With even Tony Pulis calling the Potters' first half performance 'inept' it was probably another one best quickly forgotten and we move on to the home clash against Manchester City on Saturday. Our home form is rapidly becoming vital to any chance of survival and a win against the blue half of Manchester now very important.

James Beattie's second half strike showed that we can sign a striker that hits the ground running. He'd set up Rory Delap's goal against Chelsea in his debut 10 days ago and went one better with his first goal for the club. We now look forward in eager anticipation to his home debut on Saturday as he seems keen to prove those who said that he couldn't hack in the Premier League wrong.

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