Players should not need motivating, says Sherwood

Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood believes his players should need no extra motivation ahead of their clash with Sunderland on Monday.

Coming off the back of a 4-0 thumping at Liverpool on Sunday, Spurs will be desperate to re-ignite their European ambitions when Gus Poyet’s side visit White Hart Lane.

And Sherwood wants to see a determined response from his players.

“They shouldn’t need anyone to motivate them,” he said. “I never needed motivating to play football. If you need motivating then you shouldn’t be in this game.

“You’ve got 35,000 fans coming to cheer you on.

“It’s all about pride now and getting the maximum points possible between now and the end of the season.

“We have to make sure we play with pride and give the great fans that Tottenham have 100 per cent all of the time.”

Sherwood played with opposite number Poyet at Spurs and says even back then, the Uruguayan showed traits that would stand him in good stead as a manager.

“Could I see Gus going into management? I probably could,” he said. “He was a leader of men.

“Could he see me going into management? He’d probably say he could.

“It’s no surprise that we are both in the hot seat and I think he has done a very good job wherever he has been.

“I’m hoping for his sake that Sunderland can remain in the division, but unfortunately for him I don’t want it to start on Monday night.”