Michael Dawson calls for Tottenham to avoid distractions against relegation-threatened Birmingham

Michael Dawson of Tottenham(Getty Images)

Related Links

Teams

Players

Michael Dawson has called for Tottenham to focus on finishing fifth in the Premier League as they face relegation-threatened Birmingham on Sunday.

Alex McLeish’s side go into the final game of the season knowing they must win to ensure their safety for another year, or depend on results elsewhere falling in their favour.

But Spurs are aiming to claim a Europa League spot and defeat would leave them running the risk of qualifying through the Fifa Fair Play League and having to enter the preliminary rounds as early as June or July.

“People always talk about ‘Super Sunday’ and this is certainly a big day for everyone involved,” Dawson told the club’s official website.

“We want to finish fifth, Birmingham want to stay up and so do Wolves, Blackburn, Blackpool and Wigan. Everyone is fighting for survivial.

“But we’ve got to concentrate on what we do.

“We said before Liverpool that we wanted to finish the season with two wins. We got the first against Liverpool, a great performance and hopefully we’ll now finish the season on a high back in front of our fans on Sunday.

“There is a lot of pressure on Birmingham but we want to win and finish in fifth.

“We’ll just concentrate on what we have to do. It doesn’t matter about anything else – if we win the game we’re there.”

Spurs coach Tim Sherwood has recently suggested manager Harry Redknapp could field a younger side, should the club qualify for European competitions for next season.