• Tottenham defender has faith in quality of side
• ‘I’m sure we can do well in the World Cup’

Michael Dawson is hoping to complete a memorable season by helping England to World Cup glory this summer.

Dawson played a major part in Tottenham Hotspur earning a place in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time. Then his own fine form was recognised with the 26-year-old being voted the club’s player of the year. Now he has faith in England to do themselves justice in South Africa after claiming “it’s scary how good the players are”.

Dawson, a late replacement for the injured captain Rio Ferdinand, had his first taste of senior England action in yesterday’s warm-up game with the Platinum Stars.

He said: “It’s been a great season. Qualifying for the Champions League was always the aim. We knew it was going to be hard but you always set your sights high and fortunately we had a fantastic season and achieved that goal.

“Harry Redknapp [the Tottenham manager] has been able to get the best out of largely the same group of players who were in a bad situation when he took over.

“To then get the club’s player of the year award was great. At the start of the season, I was out through injury but after I broke into the team it was fantastic.

“Now to be in the World Cup squad is fantastic and it’s always been a dream of mine to play for England and it was nice to play some part in the game yesterday.”

As for England’s chances this summer, he claimed: “I have confidence in the squad to succeed. When you look at the quality of the players, it’s scary how good they are.

“We’ve got world-class players here and I am sure we can do well in the World Cup.”

Dawson could line up alongside his Spurs team-mate Ledley King in South Africa. He said: “Ledley is a top-class centre-half. When he has been fit this last season, he has shown that. He has been playing at the level everyone knows he can play at.”

EnglandWorld Cup 2010 Group CWorld Cup 2010Tottenham Hotspurguardian.co.uk

The fixture was a tough route to the Champions League but Tottenham Hotspur negotiated it with poise and purpose. Victory arrived when Marton Fulop pushed out a Younes Kaboul cross to leave Peter Crouch with a simple header into the net. Manchester City have been denied and the only consolation lies in the wealth that can fund greater progress in the future. For Tottenham this was a pivotal and deeply satisfying moment in their history.

This struggle felt more intense than the contest of Chelsea and Manchester United for the title itself. That was to be expected since neither City nor Spurs had taken their place in the European Cup since the 1960s. This match, with its frenetic nature, would still not have been seen as preparation for the more studied games that lie ahead for one of these clubs.

The early part of the night, for instance, was notable for a pair of piercing runs that very nearly took Carlos Tevez clear on two occasions. That type of individualistic effort became less common and by the time the Argentinian fired into the side netting after 44 minutes, Gareth Barry, the colleague who had supplied him, would surely have been exasperated by that attempt from a very tight angle when the ball ought to have been cut back.

Tottenham competed effectively from the start and it was reassuring for them that the captain, Ledley King, despite his knee condition, was in shape to start successive matches at the heart of the back four. Harry Redknapp’s side had a second fillip as well. Aaron Lennon started his first game since December and this appearance will have come as a relief to the England manager, Fabio Capello.

The winger needed time to settle, but after 39 minutes he eluded Craig Bellamy and Peter Crouch knocked his deep cross down for Gareth Bale to put a first-time effort wide. Tottenham were frisky and also, in the case of King, sneaky. He nodded home in the 20th minute but only after levering himself up with an arm on the shoulder of Barry. The referee, Steve Bennett, detected the crime.

No effort was spared here by almost desperate clubs. The decisions grow more agonising at this time of the year. City had come through a torpid goalless draw at the Emirates 11 days ago, when Roberto Mancini kept three attackers in the line-up but then deprived the trio of service because he had only defensive midfielders in the centre of the pitch. It will take the final league table to tell us whether the plan was wise then, but City were, of course, more enterprising against Tottenham, with Patrick Vieira on the bench.

Given the sheer weight of expenditure and expectation at Eastlands the pressure bearing down on Mancini must be more severe than that on Redknapp. Tottenham had been professional and effective when beating both Arsenal and Chelsea at White Hart Lane, even if they then went down 3-1 at Manchester United.

It has to be remembered that sides whose target it is to come fourth are, by definition, limited in scope. For that reason, this game was intriguing since it was as much about handling the situation for these sides as it was about dealing with one another. Scoreless as the game was at half-time, neither City nor Tottenham could have claimed they had exercised much authority.

City, with the greater need to win, were more forthright still following the interval. It was an intense spell and Barry, for instance, got himself so far forward that he was in place to knock back a deep, inswinging cross from Adam Johnson on the right. There was no one around to complete the move by scoring and Mancini’s side appeared to lack that attribute.

Jermain Defoe showed them a predatory touch in the 56th minute as his effort with the outside of the right boot called for the impressive save with which Fulop tipped the ball round the post. It was difficult for City to maintain composure and there was also a little disruption when the injured Barry , who had been doubtful for this encounter with a hamstring injury, had to make way for Vieira.

Tiredness in the closing half-hour held out the best hope for the studied football that might break the deadlock. Tottenham seemed to have slightly more pattern to their work then and a driven cross from Benoît Assou-Ekotto only just eluded Defoe and Crouch in front of the posts.

Tottenham, who saw Crouch denied by a save after a Bale cross in the 77th minute, had handled the occasion with concentration and purpose. All the same, each side was always just an inspired moment away from an even more resounding result.

Premier LeagueManchester CityTottenham HotspurKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk

You don’t go through the long and winding road of a 38-game chase for glory without enduring some butterflies, hiccups and bruises along the way. This was not Tottenham Hotspur at their most vibrant and confident, and in the final few minutes a lot of fingernails were being chewed. But Harry Redknapp’s team did enough to bid farewell to White Hart Lane this season with a crucial win.

That ‘enough’ largely took the form of Tom Huddlestone, whose decisive goal was thunderous in both body and spirit. Tottenham’s Champions League aspirations now rest on a colossal tussle with Manchester City on Wednesday night. It is more or less winners take all.

Tottenham struggled to start with the bang that had been a hallmark of their recent triumphs here against Chelsea and Arsenal. They laboured by comparison, perhaps feeling the nerves with the prize so tantalisingly close.

It was fortunate, then, that they came up against opponents who had no great need to, as José Mourinho would describe it, leave their blood on the pitch. Bolton Wanderers defended surely enough but lacked the impetus to mount a major offensive. Early on the manager Owen Coyle gave Ivan Klasnic an absolute earful, and it was easy to see why. The Croatian striker was the embodiment of a player who was metaphorically on the beach already. The best Bolton managed in the first half was a gambol and curling shot from right-back Gretar Steinsson. Michael Dawson hurled himself at it and got in a timely deflection.

An announcement over the big screen told of Aston Villa taking an early lead at Manchester City, which jolted the crowd into life. Could the players respond? Tottenham probed patiently. Roman Pavlyuchenko wasted a fine chance when he scuffed Younes Kaboul’s neat tuck back. Gareth Bale twice tested the reflexes of Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Seven minutes before half- time, Huddlestone released the pressure gauge with a blistering strike. When Benoît Assou-Ekotto dinked a pass into his path, he needed no touch to tee himself up, no second to gather himself. He simply clubbed the ball with ferocious power into the top corner. It was a splendid finish from a player who has become a cornerstone of his team’s campaign this season.

Bolton improved after the break and gave Tottenham a scare with a couple of corners, and Heurelho Gomes pulled off a typically agile save to tip away Matt Taylor’s drive.

Redknapp’s men had chances to kill the game, as Huddlestone had another crack from distance, Jermain Defoe scooped a shot fractionally wide, and Pavluchenko glanced a header just off target. When Bale came galloping into the box, the crowd felt a second was inevitable. The Welshman was repelled by Jaaskelainen’s finger-tipped save.

The fine balance remained, and Bolton broke again. They sliced through the Spurs midfield as clever approach play from Jack Wilshere and Johan Elmander set up Taylor. Gomes was stranded, and to the home team’s relief the excellent Kaboul made a critical block. Three minutes from time Taylor’s looping volley was saved.

Peter Crouch might have sealed it with a header, but Lee Chung-yong shuffled it off the line. Then Eidur Gudjohnsen curled wide. Tottenham were anxious for the final whistle and, when it came, all thoughts lurched inexorably to Manchester.

Premier LeagueTottenham HotspurBolton WanderersAmy Lawrenceguardian.co.uk