Tottenham’s Walker out to exorcise Everton ghosts

Kyle Walker

Tottenham defender Kyle Walker believes that their shock defeat to Everton last season was the turning point for Andre Villas-Boas’ side as they prepare to face Roberto Martinez’s men once more on Sunday.

In December 2012, Spurs lost 2-1 in dramatic circumstances at Goodison Park after two last minute goals from Everton snatched all three points from the visitors.

Villas-Boas and Tottenham would go on to miss out on Champions League qualification by a single point, and Walker insists that such sloppiness will not happen again.

“There has been a lot of chopping and changing in the defence during the last couple of seasons but since the back end of last season we have stayed solid,” said Walker.

“Chucking away goals in injury time is silly and we did have a massive learning curve after the game. Every memory of a defeat like that is bad.

“The manager wasn’t happy and that game is something we need to put right on Sunday. As a result of that defeat, we changed the way we trained, increasing the level at the end of the sessions, and it certainly helped.

“It’s all about concentration — if you switch off at the end of training, you’re going to switch off at the end of the match. You have to train how you play and then take that into the games.”

Walker has created the third-most chances in the Tottenham side with 14 – only Roberto Soldado and Andros Townsend have more – but has no assists to his name as of yet.