'I'm from up north, I'm not going to go down softly' - Tottenham defender Walker denies claims of diving against Norwich

Nov 1, 2012 9:45:00 PM

The defender won a late penalty in the Capital One Cup tie, which was missed by Clint Dempsey, and Canaries boss Chris Hughton has questioned the validity of the fall

Kyle Walker has denied claims he dived to win a penalty in Tottenham's defeat to Norwich in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night.

With the game heading into injury time, and trailing 2-1, Spurs were given a lifeline when the right-back was brought down by defender Marc Tierney inside the hosts’ penalty area.

Clint Dempsey missed the resulting spot-kick as Norwich advanced to the quarter-finals but Canaries boss Chris Hughton still questioned the validity of the England international’s fall, saying he “made a meal” of the challenge.

"I'm from up north. I'm not going to go down softly," Walker told Sky Sports.

"I thought I got a clip so I went down. It was a foul. The referee has awarded a penalty, or the linesman did. They were close enough to see it.

"If I felt I was touched then I am going to go down. That's it."

Walker is keen for the squad to recover from their cup exit as soon as possible to avoid any lingering damage to their impressive Premier League form.

And with the visit of Wigan next up for Andre Villas-Boas’ men, the right-back has eyed three points ahead of crunch clashes against Manchester City and Arsenal.

He added: "It's massively important that we bounce back. No disrespect to Wigan, but out of the [next] three [games] this is the easiest.

"We want to get a good run in to Wigan and then hopefully that will give us momentum to get to [Manchester] City and then hopefully after the international break we can go to Arsenal and get the three points there."

Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200
Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets
Sign up today with Coral and get a £50 FREE bet - no strings attached!
Sign up today with BetVictor and get a £25 FREE BET!

play

open

Inside Goal.Com

Real Madrid are better off without Mourinho
The Portuguese's position had become untenable in recent weeks, especially after Friday's debacle in the Copa del Rey. Now he's leaving, but the club can grow stronger without him
AVB, Levy & Lewis to thrash out Tottenham plans
After missing out on a place in the Champions League, the north London side are devising a way to keep Gareth Bale at the club and attract new stars to White Hart Lane
Bayern's jinx - CL final referee Nicola Rizzoli
Goal takes a look at the career of the Italian arbiter to date following Uefa's decision to appoint the 41-year-old for Saturday's showpiece at Wembley
Cartoon: Casillas' birthday wish comes true
Goal.com cartoonist Omar Momani gives us his unique take on the football news of the day
Goal's Serie A awards for 2012-13
Goal crowns the best and worst from Italy over the course of the season