NO disrespect to Jeff, who's fully entitled to his opinion of course, but some of the sentiments in his letter to The Sentinel are way out of line.

To describe Mama as an embarrassment is plain ridiculous and an insult to a fine servant of Stoke City.

The lad's an international footballer, for goodness sake, never mind what he's done with Stoke over the past few years.

If you ask the Stoke players whether they'd pick Mama or not, I think I know what the answer would be.

And Tony Pulis isn't daft – he wouldn't keep picking Mama just because he's a nice lad.

Mama is the best link Tony has between his defence and attack – he's the perfect target when that long ball and quick 'out' ball is needed.

The opposition know he's a target for that kind of delivery and that's why he attracts opposition players to him, hopefully leaving space for the likes of Ricardo Fuller to flourish.

You'll see the likes of Liverpool and Man City place midfielders in front of him, too, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Wilson Palacios perform that role for Spurs tomorrow.

That's how much the opposition respect him, plus he can wear down defenders with his physical presence.

So bear in mind Mama is under pressure as soon as the ball is played anywhere near him.

And if he doesn't win possession, you can bet he's working hard to get goal-side to win it back, or at least buy his colleagues precious time.

I accept he didn't exactly have his best game last week, but let's not forget the quality of defender he's up against.

And I remember Martin O'Neill handing out praise to his centre-halves James Collins and Richard Dunne after the 0-0 draw with Villa.

It's an unglamorous role Mama plays, a workhorse if you like, but an invaluable one.

It's not for me to tell people to get off his back, but at least give him the respect he deserves.

Mama will hopefully have benefited along with the rest of the Stoke lads from having a good week's rest ahead of tomorrow's tasty little offering against Spurs.

Spurs will be out for revenge for that wonderful 1-0 win of ours at White Hart Lane in October.

I think there could be a few goals tomorrow, certainly plenty of chances, Spurs play that kind of game.

Spurs are a better team than last October and one player illustrating that is Gareth Bale, who's a different animal down that left flank these days.

The big Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko has suddenly found his feet as well and seems to be scoring for fun at the moment.

But the main man in front of goal is unquestionably Jermain Defoe because just when you think you've got him sorted, he's in there like a flash and scoring a goal from almost nothing.

Spurs are also looking more resilient at the back as Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong are playing so well that they don't seem to be missing Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate.

I'd stick my neck out at this stage and say Spurs look like favourites to pinch fourth spot.

It's another tough one for Stoke, therefore, but how often have we said that?

One thing's for sure, our fans will be right behind each and every Stoke player.

And for goodness sake, give the big man up front your very best because he really does deserve it.