Ramos refuses to point finger of blame

Spurs manager Juande Ramos says he will support Gilberto to find his confidence and rhythm after the full-back suffered a nightmare debut.

The Brazil international was at fault for Jefferson Farfan's winner as Spurs went down 1-0 to PSV at White Hart Lane.

Ramos' denied that he took Gilberto off at half-time because of the defensive error.

"I didn't substitute him because he made a mistake at the back, it was because he has had a calf injury and has not got the rhythm," he said. "He needs to play many more games, that's why I took him off.

"Every football player makes mistakes. What we have to do now is support him and help him to try to recover his best level. We're not going to blame him for the defeat."

Ramos has won the Uefa Cup with Sevilla in the last two seasons but his chances of a hat-trick are now in the balance. Spurs will need to overturn the 1-0 deficit in Holland to reach the quarter-finals.

To make matters worse, Jermaine Jenas twisted his ankle and could face a spell on the sidelines.

After winning the Carling Cup by defeating Chelsea, Spurs have been brought back down to earth by Birmingham and now the Dutch champions, with last night's defeat coming despite picking his strongest starting XI.

Ramos had claimed before the clash that Spurs' performance against PSV would provide the barometer of what is possible this season.

"The barometer is very bad at the moment," he added. "If we want to continue in this competition we have to improve our performances or we will be out."

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