11:55am Thursday 2nd October 2008
TOTTENHAM boss Juande Ramos has admitted that strikers Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko are struggling to hit it off.
The pair have yet to gel since Pavlyuchenko's £13.7million transfer deadline day arrival from Spartak Moscow.
And Ramos - who is without the ineligible Russian for today's second leg UEFA Cup qualifier with Wisla Krakow in Poland - believes it will take a bit more time for the partnership to work.
"They are playing with similar characteristics," said Ramos.
"They need time for adaptation, to work together in a lot of matches.
"It is possible in the future that they will complement each other well. It is a bad situation because they are not complementing each other.
"We needed to work on this in pre-season, but the problem is that we are having to work on this in matches."
The trip to Krakow will no doubt be a welcome break from the Premier League for Ramos and his troops.
Yet to record a win, the north Londoners are currently propping up the table having endured their worst-ever start in the top flight.
The former Sevilla boss though, insists he is capable of handling the pressure.
"In Spain I think the pressure is more because in England I only have to face the media once a week," added Ramos.
"In Spain it is every day. I am very happy here because of that.
"I know my job and this situation is normal in football. I have been a coach for 20 years and it has always been the same.
"When you win you are the king and when you lose you are the worst.
"This is my job. I understand the situation, I understand the fans and the media.
"I am sure that if we win in the next two or three weeks it will be 'Ramos is the best in the world'. This is the nature of football."
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