Bassong: Spurs can deal with giant Zigic - we train against Crouch!

SEBASTIEN Bassong has revealed that Tottenham have the perfect training equipment as they prepare to meet Birmingham’s giant striker Nikola Zigic – it’s called Peter Crouch.

Spurs travel to face City at St Andrew’s on Saturday and are set to battle the Blues’ summer signing Zigic – a 6ft 7.5ins tall Serbia international who arrived from Valencia for �6million.

Bassong, who replaced Younes Kaboul during the first half of Sunday’s 2-1 win over Liverpool, admits that the Premier League’s tallest player will present a serious aerial threat this weekend.

But the 24-year-old Cameroon international has pointed out that the City front man is hardly unique, and that Tottenham have the second-tallest man in the top flight.

“Now we’re used to it because we play against Peter in training,” Bassong said. “It’s not easy to mark him so we’re going to have to play in a different way. Zigic is a different player but I think we’ll handle it.”

Given that Harry Redknapp always asks 6ft 7ins tall Crouch to mark the opposition’s biggest danger at set pieces, there could be some high and mighty tussles at St Andrew’s this weekend. And, despite winning their last four games in a row, Bassong concedes that Spurs will have to be at their very best to get a result in the Midlands.

“Birmingham are good at home and it’s a difficult place to play. When we play at home the fans are always there, and they’re always unbelievable, so now we will need their support to win away,” he said.

“We’ve had some great results recently but of course we’ve got to stay focused because otherwise we’re going to get punished.

“If we’re going to be a really big team in the league and in Europe we’ve got to keep our feet on the grass, and know that we’ve got to improve and look forward.”