SUNDERLAND striker Djibril Cisse came off the bench to score the winner at White Hart Lane on his debut as Dimitar Berbatov's transfer saga threatens to undermine Tottenham's start to the season.
Berbatov was left out of the squad, with head coac
h Juande Ramos accusing the striker of having a negative effect on the dressing room and being distracted.
Sunderland took full advantage and led through Kieran Richardson's powerful drive before Jermaine Jenas equalised.
However, Cisse – signed on loan from Marseille this week – headed in with seven minutes to go to inflict consecutive defeats for Spurs.
Ramos is clearly concerned with how Berbatov affects morale in his squad, but another problem he faces is the lack of strikers available.
A year ago Spurs had four strikers they thought would fire them into the Champions League places – only Darren Bent is left after Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane left and Berbatov made it clear he wanted to join them through the exit door.
"I have not selected him as I do not think that he is focused enough and I do not feel that he will be good for the dressing room and the team effort," said Ramos.
"It doesn't matter how good a player is, if he is not in the right frame of mind, then he will not perform well. The only thing I concern myself with is picking the best team to try and win the game.
"I shall talk to the player tomorrow, he is our player and we shall work with him at training."
Middlesbrough were the beneficiaries of Berbatov's absence last week – he was a substitute at the Riverside – and Spurs missed his spark against the Black Cats.
Bent was prolific in pre-season but has struggled in his first two matches of the season and he barely had sight of goal in a dull first half.
Roy Keane had Andy Reid and Steed Malbranque, both former Spurs players, in Sunderland's starting XI and both received warm receptions from the home fans.
It was Malbranque who came closest to opening the scoring in the first 45 minutes. The Frenchman struck the foot of the post six minutes before the interval with a low drive from long distance.
Richardson opened the scoring for the visitors in 55 minutes before Jenas netted the equaliser 18 minutes later.
But Spurs' hopes of at least a point were ended by Cisse with seven minutes left.
The full article contains 427 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
