Teddy Sheringham's programme notes v Charlton

Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) Football Club is located in North London. The club is also known as Spurs. Tottenham's home ground is White Hart Lane. The club motto is Audere est Facere (To dare is to do).

I hope you all had a great Christmas yesterday and let’s hope there’s a belated present waiting for us at the end of this afternoon’s game in the form of a victory.

It was hard to know how to feel after our last game here, when we were extremely pleased with our level of performance against Arsenal but disappointed not to come away with the three points.

Having lost the away fixture against them a month earlier, we were determined to try to put things right for the sake of ourselves, the supporters and the whole Club. In a way the players achieved that with the spirited display but at the same time, we feel we let Arsenal off the hook.

There’s no doubting that they are a very, very good side but we dominated them and never let them play to their potential.

Our pride was restored but at the end of the day, they left here having taken four points from us and that left everyone downhearted. We've not got the three points which would have delighted our fans and given us all a great weekend. We couldn't have done any more, the players tried really hard and had the better chances. We should have won but didn't.

The supporters were fantastic on the day as well, and I think the team responded to them as much as they did to the players. If you start well and the crowd gets behind you, they help you along and it works hand in hand. It was great but if you want to win things, you've got to lift the crowd and make that atmosphere.

Now we have to try to maintain the level of performance we showed against Arsenal, especially at home and that starts this afternoon. We’re going into the New Year and the second half of the campaign in quite a healthy league position with a squad close to full strength.

That means we are ready and able to really push on and consolidate a place in the top few positions in the table with a place in Europe still very much on the agenda.

As this is my last column of 2002, let me take this opportunity, on behalf of myself and all the players, to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.