Spurs must win

Tottenham Hotspur striker Peter Crouch (L) leads his teammates while jogging during a training session in London yesterday on the eve of their Champions League play-off against Young Boys. Photo: Reuters

Their proud domestic tra-ditions notwithstanding, Tottenham Hotspur need no reminding that the club merits barely a footnote to date in the history of European football's premier club competition as they target the Champions league group stage.
Spurs, who expect to overturn a 3-2 deficit against Young Boys of Switzerland on Wednesday in their qualifier return leg at White Hart Lane, were the first English side to taste European glory with a 1963 Cup Winers Cup triumph.
They followed up with a win in the inaugural UEFA Cup in 1972, which they won again 12 years later.
But until they broke into the "top four" of the English Premier League last May at the expense of Liverpool, Spurs had failed to qualify for the Champions League while their only foray into the old format European Cup ended in a narrow 1962 semifinal loss to Benfica after having three goals ruled out.
Four years ago, Spurs should have made it into the competition but a mass bout of gastroenteritis contributed to a loss at West Ham which denied the club a berth.
A week ago, the Londoners appeared to have thrown away a place in the lucrative group phase as they saw unheralded Young Boys race into a 3-0 lead in the opening leg.
But goals from Sebastien Bassong and Roman Pavly-uchenko brought Spurs back into the contest and they should now be expected to go on and put their names in the hat for the group draw.
"Hopefully, we can get a few early goals like they did," said Spurs' Michael Dawson, looking back at a whirlwind start to the first game which almost saw the Premier League side heading for a premature and humiliating exit.
Manager Harry Redknapp says he expects his side to progress despite the likely absence of Pavlyuchenko with an ankle problem and playmaker Luka Modric with groin trouble.
Striker Jermain Defoe hopes to be fit despite also having a groin strain.
Assuming he makes it, Robbie Keane, who missed the weekend win at Stoke with a knee injury, is likely to miss out again amid reports he could be on his way to Aston Villa or West Ham.
In Redknapp's view, "we have got a big chance as we have come back from the dead" in the first game.
Ledley King is scheduled to return in defence after he was rested against Stoke.
While Spurs seek to make it through to the money-spinning group action, there are two "local" derbies Wed-nesday as Norway's Rosenborg travel to Denmark's FC Copenhagen protecting a 2-1 lead while Slovakian outfit Zilina should progress having already won 2-0 at Czech neighbours Sparta Prague.
The two remaining encounters are tightly poised with French side Auxerre - a surprise third in Ligue 1 last season - looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Russia's 2008 UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg, while Ajax start slight favourites armed with a 1-1 draw from the away leg at Ukraine's Dynamo Kiev.
Zenit sit atop the Russian league and had a weekend off after their match with second-placed CSKA Moscow was rescheduled.
"We are going to France without any fears," Zenit manager Luciano Spalletti insists.
"We missed several chances in the first match but managed to win it and keep a clean sheet. Such a result after the first leg is quite acceptable."
"Auxerre are a very good team but I believe we are capable of earning a place in the main draw."
The five winners will join the five qualifiers from Tuesday's encounters, those ten teams going through to join 22 heavyweights who automatically made it to the group stage.
FIXTURES
(all kick-offs 1845 GMT):
FC Copenhagen (DEN) v Rosenborg (NOR), Zilina (SVK) v Sparta Prague (CZE), Tottenham (ENG) v Young Boys (SUI), Auxerre (FRA) v Zenit St Petersburg (RUS), Ajax (NED) v Dynamo Kiev (UKR)