Jol backs Wenger

Tottenham manager Martin Jol has backed rival manager Arsene Wenger in regards to the comments he made about the congested fixture list the teams have this season.

"I can imagine he (Wenger) has a few concerns about the fixture list because it's a pain," said Jol.

"People don't realise how difficult it can be.

"If you lose all your international players, they come back on a Friday (before a weekend game).

"With the cups, I can remember Arsenal playing a reserve side in the Carling Cup, for example, and they beat West Brom. Not a lot of teams can do that.

"But it's very difficult we play on Thursday and they play even on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

"I can remember when we played Chelsea - we played on a Thursday and they played on a Tuesday, so it's even more difficult.

"But you need the results because nobody will help you, as you have to play these matches."

He added: "Internationally, I think we will have to have a discussion in the future because no one else bothers outside of the league,"

"These international matches against Andorra and San Marino, I feel there could be a solution.

"If our international players have to play all these (qualifying) matches and they come back on a Friday, they still have to play.

"We had to do without players for three or four weeks because they got injured in those international fixtures.

"I think if we could cut the fixtures - you can still play the lesser teams against each other and you can play the big teams against each other.

"I feel you are sacrificing your top players (with all these fixtures)."