Gomes Happy At The Lane

The Brazilian custodian has come in for some heavy criticism this term as a result of his erratic form.

A solid shot-stopper, Gomes has nonetheless shipped a number of goals due to his error-prone performances.

Tottenham fell behind last week at Fulham due to another rudimentary gaffe from the 27-year-old, while Liverpool's goals in the Carling Cup eight days ago can also be attributed to Gomes.

Manager Harry Redknapp has summoned Ben Alnwick back from his loan spell at Carlisle United to provide competition for the 17-cap Brazil international, while the club has parted ways with their goalkeeping coach in an attempt to rescue Gomes' ailing form.

The player himself acknowledges that times have been tough of late, but is optimistic that his side have the tools to turn the situation around.

He told the press: "It's been difficult, but we are improving. We've lost a lot of games, but there's now more confidence amongst the players and slowly we're improving.

Last week, Pedro Salazar Hewitt, the press officer at Gomes' previous club PSV Eindhoven, claimed that the glovesman was less that happy with life in north London.

Gomes was back at the Philips Stadion last night to watch some of his old team-mates defeat Sweden by 3-1 as part of the Netherlands.

He said: "It's incredibly fun to be back here. I'm happy to see PSV doing well.

"I'm often on the phone to Ibrahim Afellay and we speak in English to help me practice."

Peter Staunton