Tom Huddlestone

Tom Huddlestone is confident Tottenham can make it a hat-trick of European campaigns next season despite their poor start this term.

Juande Ramos' arrival as coach in October has helped lift Spurs to 11th in the Barclays Premier League, and they could also qualify for Europe by winning the Carling Cup final against Chelsea.

Spurs face Slavia Prague this week in the UEFA Cup - which Ramos has won in the last two seasons with Sevilla - offering another route back into Europe after consecutive campaigns.

Huddlestone said: "Obviously, we've got a cup final coming up and two big European games.

"It will be difficult to get into Europe but I don't see why we can't make it. The results are picking up and the performances are getting better.

"We've got a lot of big games coming up and we've got to try and get ourselves in the top half of the table."

Spurs are expected to be without Michael Dawson for the trip to Prague after the centre-back picked up a muscle tear at Derby on Saturday.

Ledley King will be assessed to see if he can be risked ahead of the Carling Cup final as he is still gradually coming back from knee surgery, while Alan Hutton is ineligible for the UEFA Cup.