Martin Jol also acknowledged that any player not in the team will inevitably be unhappy - they currently include midfielders of the quality of Pedro Mendes and Michael Brown, key elements last season, while Jermain Defoe is similarly long-faced at his current exclusion by Robbie Keane wrote Ronald Atkin in The Independent on Sunday.
Jol said: "Not one of them has asked to leave. They all want to stay at this club. The players have to keep themselves and each other happy.
"The only thing I can do is be open, tell them who is playing and why. I tell them they shouldn't moan, but if they don't moan I wonder why. As you saw in our recent match against Portsmouth, Jermain Defoe is, along with Michael Owen, the best finisher in the English game."
Against Middlesbrough yesterday, Defoe only featured in the final half an hour or so despite his wonder effort last week, while goalscorer Mido played the full 90 minutes (7th of the season). Rasiak was involved for the last ten minutes, whilst goalscorer Keane played from start to finish (included breaking the deadlock with his 5th strike of the season.)
Jol added: "We like to think we have a strong squad, but at the moment we have only one game a week, and people like Defoe on the bench have to wait for their chance. But they all want to play, and that is something to be proud of."
Unfortunately, Jermain Defoe could be ruled out the equation for Tottenham’s three Christmas fixtures after he went over on his ankle, ironically during injury time at the end of the 3-3 draw at Boro.