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Twente and Tottenham to shuffle their packs

Michel Preud'homme has promised a UEFA Champions League debut to 40-year-old keeper Sander Boschker against Tottenham Hotspur FC, who will make changes of their own.

Twente and Tottenham to shuffle their packs
Twente and Tottenham to shuffle their packs ©UEFA.com

FC Twente coach Michel Preud'homme and Tottenham Hotspur FC's Harry Redknapp have both promised changes for their final match in UEFA Champions League Group A. Preud'homme will give a group-stage debut to 40-year-old goalkeeper Sander Boschker, while Redknapp was slightly more expansive in his plans for a match which the English club must win to be certain of topping the section.

Michel Preud'homme, Twente coach
I don't know what to expect from Tottenham but whether they win the group or finish runners-up can make a difference for them. For Spurs it is also a new story to play in the Champions League and they want to make the best of it. Normally I wouldn't reveal the starting XI but I can tell you that Sander Boschker will start the match.

I have two excellent goalkeepers and in these circumstances I can give Boschker a game. I have also spoken with [Nikolay] Mihaylov and we all agreed to give Sander this opportunity. The scoreline was harsh in the away game against Spurs [a 4-1 loss] and we weren't as bad as that suggested. In general, we have competed in all our matches. We have learned that we can do better. Everybody would have been happy with a third-place finish when we started the campaign.

Harry Redknapp, Tottenham manager
I might just make one or two changes. We've one or two players who are desperate to play and have been unlucky not to. We've lots of important games coming up so it's important we don't overstretch one or two of the lads.  If we make changes, whoever comes into the side will do a great job for us. It's important to try to finish top of the table. For sure there's an advantage in finishing top because you will not play against other group winners like Madrid and Barcelona.

I don't know if Twente are looking for revenge. We were fortunate in the home match. You don't win the title in Holland if don't have a good team. It will be a good game tomorrow. With our results other teams will look at us and say that Tottenham is a dangerous place to go. An away win would be a good message from us.

Team news
Twente
Mihaylov and Dwight Tiendalli (both knee) returned against De Graafschap. Nicky Kuiper (knee) and Emir Bajrami (ankle) have been out since October, while Bryan Ruiz is sidelined until mid-January (knee).

Tottenham
Younes Kaboul (thigh) and Rafael van der Vaart (hamstring) are sidelined with the injuries which forced them to miss out at Birmingham City FC on Saturday, when Michael Dawson was on the bench after more than three months out with sprained knee ligaments. Redknapp confirmed that Robbie Keane (ankle) and Jermaine Jenas (calf) did travel to the Netherlands along with Luka Modrić, who has a touch of flu. Ledley King (groin) is still unavailable.

Weekend results
04/12/10 Twente 2-0 De Graafschap
(Janssen 8 69)
Theo Janssen, back from suspension, scored both of his goals direct from free-kicks. At the halfway point of the Eredivisie season, Twente are level on 37 points with leaders PSV Eindhoven.

04/12/10 Birmingham 1-1 Tottenham
Gardner 81; Bassong 19)
Tottenham's four-match winning run in all competitions was ended by Craig Gardner's late equaliser and denied them just a second clean sheet in their last 20 games.

Did you know?
Van der Vaart played for AFC Ajax from 1999 to 2005, winning two Eredivisie titles. He was a team-mate of Boschker during the Twente goalkeeper's one season at Ajax in 2003/04 and later in the Netherlands' 2010 World Cup squad.

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