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LONDON (AP)—Tottenham’s focus on its biggest match in years has left Saturday’s Premier League game at Wigan looking like an unwelcome distraction for manager Harry Redknapp and his injury-hit squad.

Tottenham’s rivals for a top-four spot—Chelsea and Manchester City—are each expected to pick up three points each this weekend against Stoke and Sunderland respectively, so Tottenham is desperate to beat Wigan and maintain its fading attempt to finish in the Champions League places for a second straight season.

But Redknapp must weigh the risk of fielding those players he needs for Tuesday’s Champions League quarterfinal match at Real Madrid—the north London club’s biggest game since at least the 1984 UEFA Cup final.

While the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea play regularly in the Champions League, Tottenham may never get another chance after this season.

“You can’t start thinking about how we are going to beat Real Madrid because we have to play Wigan on Saturday,” Redknapp said. “It’s farcical. You play Saturday, you recover on Sunday. You’re not going to have your 11 ready on Sunday because you are going to have aches and pains and knocks.

“It’s going to be very difficult to prepare for Real Madrid because Wigan are in the way.”

Winger Gareth Bale is in doubt for both matches because of a hamstring injury, while Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong are the only fit central defenders since William Gallas has a knee problem, Ledley King is out for the rest of the season because he needs groin surgery, and Jonathan Woodgate and Younes Kaboul are injured.

Wigan is last in the Premier League but is the only side to have beaten Tottenham at White Hart Lane in this season’s Premier League.

“We started the year with six central defenders and now we have two,” Redknapp said. “It’s a nightmare.”

Tottenham trails fourth-place Manchester City by four points. Third-place Chelsea is a point further ahead and is at Stoke on Saturday.

The Blues also have the Champions League quarterfinals to prepare for, but have an extra day and no distance to travel before Wednesday’s European meeting with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s squad is also in better shape than Tottenham’s, with midfielder Yossi Benayoun on course to play his first game for the Blues in six months after making his comeback from an Achilles’ injury in Israel’s 1-0 win over Georgia on Tuesday.

City hosts Sunderland on Sunday, when Blackpool is at Fulham.

Manchester United, which leads second-place Arsenal by five points, resumes its bid for a record 19th English title by returning to West Ham and the scene of its biggest loss this season.

West Ham’s 4-0 win in November in the League Cup quarterfinals was one of only four losses for United this season.

Defenders Rio Ferdinand, Rafael da Silva, Jonny Evans and John O’Shea are all out, but United manager Alex Ferguson should be able to call upon Nemanja Vidic after the captain recovered from a calf problem.

“I grew up an Everton fan, so to be part of the team to overtake Liverpool’s record would be brilliant,” United striker Wayne Rooney said. “It would mean so much to us players as well as the fans.”

Also Saturday, Arsenal hosts Blackburn, Liverpool is at West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa is at Everton, Bolton is at Birmingham and Wolverhampton Wanderers is at Newcastle.

Labels: heads, Injuryhit, reluctantly, Tottenham, Wigan

The Upton Park crowd had made it plain that they did not appreciate the unique talents of Nikola Zigic. "Does the circus know you're here?" they chorused at the beginning of the second half. The beanpole Birmingham City striker would enjoy the heartiest of last laughs.

His goal settled this dismal game and spirited three precious points in the relegation struggle back to St Andrew's. It was one that showcased not only his aerial power but also West Ham United's patented ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

Only Mark Noble knew what he was thinking when he leapt recklessly into the back of David Bentley on the Birmingham left and the award of a free-kick by the referee Chris Foy was merely the prelude to the punishment. The substitute Sebastian Larsson curled it in to the back post and Zigic, having lost his marker, thumped a header home.

The Serb moved to Birmingham from Valencia last summer for £6m and this was his sixth goal for the club, making each of them pretty expensive. This one felt priceless. Zigic's introduction as a substitute swung the Carling Cup semi-final second leg against West Ham in his team's favour but Premier League points are the hardest currency.

Today was Avram Grant's 56th birthday but this was no way to celebrate. Apart from a late blast from the substitute Demba Ba on his debut, which rattled the near post, West Ham created little of note. After the tonic of the midweek win at Blackpool, the frustration of taking two steps back was palpable. The club's supporters did not even put their hearts into the booing at full-time.

The match was flat at the outset, as always seems to be the case with early kick-offs. There was a lack of tempo and sharpness, with Birmingham seemingly content to stay solid in midfield and look to punch on the counter.

West Ham, with Victor Obinna high up on the left flank and Robbie Keane scuttling about up front, were on the front foot slightly more but the lack of quality in both teams made for slim pickings. Misplaced passes and hopeful punts forward pockmarked the action.

The highlight of the first half came when the fourth official stepped forward to indicate that there would be only one minute of added time. The crowd had been treated to one shot on target, from Frédéric Piquionne in the 20th minute, which drew a routine save from Ben Foster and the occasional flicker from Obinna and Keane.

For Bimingham, the outstanding Roger Johnson timed a run into the penalty area but not his header and Zigic sent another one over the crossbar.

West Ham lost James Tomkins to an injury in the warm-up and his replacement in central defence, Matthew Upson, succumbed to tendinitis at half-time. Manuel da Costa came on to take over the watch on Zigic, which has to be one of the most physical challenges in football.

Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, switched to a five-man midfield on 57 minutes, when he swapped Cameron Jerome for Larsson, which placed even more emphasis on Zigic, and the second half was marginally better than the first.

The goal raised the temperature but West Ham could find no riposte. Ba, the £6m signing from Hoffenheim, hit the woodwork from a tight angle in the 77th minute but that was as close as his team came.

Labels: Birminghamaposs, Guardian, heads, leave, Nikola, Zigic