Kellerâ™s loss inspires Spurs to prove point

“It is tough to keep going but you have to. He was my coach at university and my assistant coach for the national team in the 1998 World Cup. He was basically my mentor. He was the guy I looked up to.

“When something is not going right for me, I have two or three people that I would call and he was one of them. The game plan when I finished playing here was always to go back and spend time with him.

“But it is like losing a parent. There is something missing from your life and it doesn’t leave you.

“It is easier in some ways because I know he fought it for three years and I knew it was coming. But it is still hard to deal with when it actually happens.
“Although it was very tough for me, the manager asked me how I felt about things and I said I would play.”

Keller made a number of fine saves to thwart a Liverpool attack that was largely kept in check by Spurs centre-back triumvirate of Ledley King, Dean Richards and Anthony Gardner. It was the first time that Hoddle had been able to field all three players for the second successive match.

Liverpool piled on the pressure in the second half but were unable to pierce the resolute Spurs rearguard.

Keller’s best save came in the 72nd minute when he somehow managed to keep out a piledriver from Steven Gerrard.

Spurs had their best moments in the opening period when Helder Postiga forced Jerzy Dudek to turn a goal-bound effort around the post. It was the closest Spurs came to breaking the deadlock but their overall performance left Hoddle more than satisfied.

Hoddle said: “We came here to get three points but defended very well. That’s the first time since I’ve been here as manager that I’ve been able to play that back three for the second game on the trot.

“It’s an amazing fact, but true. Someone has always been injured, suspended or whatever. But we looked solid and they found it hard to break us down.
“Credit must go to Ledley and Dean, they’ve not had a pre-season and they’ve been thrown in at the deep end and responded.

“If we can get one more game out of them on Saturday against Fulham, we’ve then got two weeks where we can give them some sharp training. They will be better for that.”

Under-pressure Liverpool manager Gerrard Houllier thought his team were unlucky and could be confident about Saturday’s derby against Everton.

“The derby will be a different story. I am delighted with the attitude my team is showing, the win will come as will the goals.

“The crowd were not moaning, they could see we were playing good stuff, and I believe there is plenty of encouragement for the future after that,” he said.