Hoddle praises golden oldies

Sheringham celebrates his 300th career goal

Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle was full of admiration for veterans Teddy Sheringham and Gus Poyet after his side's 4-1 victory over Sunderland.

The duo, whose combined age is 70, both scored landmark career goals as the Londoners sent the Black Cats deeper into relegation trouble.

Sheringham scored his 300th club goal with six minutes to go, while Poyet struck his 50th goal in English league football to give his side an early lead.

Gary Doherty and Simon Davies also got in on the scoring act as Spurs ran riot in the second half to heap more misery on hapless Sunderland.

Match report: Tottenhham 4-1 Sunderland

After the game, Hoddle hailed the achievement of his 36-year-old skipper and revealed how the 34-year-old Poyet passed a late fitness test to be able to take to the field.

"That was a great moment for Teddy," said Hoddle.

"It is a fantastic milestone for him to score 300 goals from his first at Millwall to now - it is a wonderful achievement.

It is great for Teddy to reach 300 goals, because like a cricketer being on 99 it plays on your mind and can have an effect on your game

Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle

"As for Gus, he turned an ankle in training on Monday and did not train all week.

"We sent him to Italy to see a doctor we use and he came back and passed a fitness test this morning. It was a risk which paid dividends.

"When we lose, people say they are too old, and when we win they are good players.

"But they are players who love the game and who affect the game, and their experience gives them something else.

"They are thinking one or two moves ahead, and they have also brought on our youngsters."

One low note for Spurs was the loss of striker Robbie Keane after 21 minutes with a knee ligament injury which has forced him to pull out of the Republic of Ireland squad for Wednesday's friendly international away to Scotland.

There is not a part of me which thinks we can't turn this round, because we've got matches to play against teams around us

Sunderland boss Howard Wilkinson

Meanwhile, Sunderland boss Howard Wilkinson admitted that Wednesday's extra-time victory over Blackburn in the FA Cup had taken its toll on his team.

"This game came a day too early for us after our exertions in the FA Cup," said Wilkinson.

"I always thought if we were going to win we would have to win it early on, but we conceded a couple of soft goals by any standards."

But Wilkinson remains hopeful that the Black Cats can avoid the drop.

"There is not a part of me which thinks we can't turn this round, because we've got matches to play against teams around us," said Wilkinson.

"If we had been more ruthless in the first half we could have been 2-1 or 3-1 up."

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