King keeping feet on the ground

Harry Redknapp's men have stormed into the top three of the Barclays Premier League and head to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday five points behind leaders Manchester City following last weekend's 1-1 draw at home to Wolves.

Redknapp has urged his side to believe they can still challenge for the title, but centre-back King feels everything has to be kept in perspective, and told talkSPORT: "We are in a great position at the moment and have probably surprised a few people."

He added: "At this stage of the season, to be talked about as still capable of winning the title is great for us.

"We are not getting too carried away at the moment, though. We are just getting our heads down and grinding out results. We look at the league table and we can see we are in amongst it.

"That is new to us and maybe people would expect us to fall away in the second half of the season but, as players, we believe in our ability and we believe we can keep getting results.

"We have lost just one in the last 19 and that is great form. If we keep it up then we are in with a chance."

Meanwhile, Jermain Defoe, who has started just seven league games this season, has admitted he is not happy being on the substitutes' bench.

The 29-year-old told Sky Sports News: "At the end of the day it's not a case of me saying I want to go here, I'm not playing, I want to leave the club. I've been here six years - I've never said that once. I think the fans know that.

"It's just a case of me playing. I could understand if I was 19, 20 and I had time on my hands, but I'm 29 now and, like I've always said, all I want to do is play football. It's as simple as that."

Source: PA

Source: PA