Tottenham: Santini rules out top 4 finish

Tottenham head coach Jacques Santini has admitted a place in the Champions League is beyond his side this season.

Santini has hardly hidden his frustrations at the lack of depth available to him since he arrived at White Hart Lane, but it came to a head this week after Tottenham stuttered to a 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth on Monday night.

After negotiating the first six league games unbeaten, it was Tottenham's second successive defeat and Santini's biggest gripe was that he had to play his international stars immediately after their return from World Cup qualifiers.

Atouba subsequently damaged his ligament during the game and with Erik Edman and Mauricio Taricco out - through injury and suspension respectively - Santini is short down the left flank heading into Saturday's clash with Bolton.

Sportinglife