Carrick admits Champions League fear but says Arsenal will have diserved it

Michael Carrick has expressed his fear of Spurs finishing 4th, but still not playing in the Champions League next year.

Speaking to The Mirror, Carrick admitted that Arsenal will diserve to be in the Champions League next year if they beat Barcelona in the Champions League Final in May. However, he did exclaim the team's potential dissapointment of finishing 4th but still not getting Champions League football.

He said: "If they go and win the Champions League then we'll have to say fair play, they've won the biggest club competition there and they'll have deserved it.

"If we finish fourth and they win it, then it will be hard to take but they were the rules at the start of the season and you have accept it. After we drew at Arsenal last Saturday someone said, 'We're in Europe'. But there wasn't even a reaction in the dressing room.

"We're really focused on getting fourth because if we don't get there now after being there for so long it will be a big disappointment."

Speaking about Spurs' chances if they do end up in the Champions League next year, Carrick said that Spurs wouldn't do an Everton and get knocked out at the Qualifying Stages.

"People looked at Everton's draw and saw Villarreal and thought they'd get through no problem," Carrick added. "They took some stick for getting beaten - but look at where Villarreal ended up. The qualifying games can be hard. They're not easy and the knock-on effect was huge on Everton

"But you look at the players we've got, our style of play and I believe we'll be well suited to playing in Europe."

Carrick then goes on to praise Martin Jol's excellent faith in young English players. He also highlights Martin Jol's willingness to rid Spurs' "soft touch" reputation and believes all this has been key to Spurs' best season in the Premiership. And Spurs' physical progress will be put to test in their last two games of the season - two games Spurs must win, assuming Arsenal win all of their remaing three games.

"We've given ourselves a chance but they're not two easy games. Bolton are always a hard team to face.

"They're looking to push up the table and go for Europe themselves and after that we've got to go to West Ham.

"In the past, Tottenham were seen as a soft touch and Martin was keen to stamp that out.

"The English backbone is a big part of that and there's some lads like Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson who are pushing for a place as well.

"And to get five players on the pitch at the same time as we did for England against Uruguay shows how far Tottenham have come as a club and as a team."