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*Stone totally outflanked*

Tottenham must hope the so-called wide open spaces of Wembley will provide as promising territory for David Ginola as the more familiar flanks of White Hart Lane where the Frenchman flamboyantly plies his trade.

Ginola roamed exclusively down the left against Aston Villa, which meant two halves of trouble for Steve Stone, who in this defensive role looked a very expensive debutant at £5.5 million. He looked dazed long before he was booked for a late tackle on his tormentor just past the hour.

At least Villa’s dogged newcomer can pass on a few tips to the Leicester man deputed to mind Ginola next Sunday. That could be Pontus Kaamark, the Swedish specialist marker who extinguished Juninho’s flame in this final two years ago. But Stone can also tell Kaamark and Co that often very little comes from Ginola’s generation of chances.

George Graham’s improving team have more than one shot in their locker, though that was difficult to discern until Steve Sherwood’s persistence brought the scrambled winner two minutes from time. The first half illustrated the over-dependence on Ginola, whose six unrewarded crosses represented the only avenue of Spurs opportunity. Save for Sherwood’s thoughtful runs - often unseen by his team-mates - both midfields were barren zones.

With nothing through the middle, it was back to crosses. One from the impressive Steve Carr brought Villa as much consternation as any of Ginola’s, finding Riccardo Scimeca seemingly shoving Les Ferdinand out of its path in the penalty area.

Graham cited that as he condemned the referee Peter Jones’s “very poor” performance. Villa had an even stronger complaint after only four minutes when Ian Walker could have been sent off after taking out Alan Thompson just outside the area. Admittedly Spurs had a defender covering but it cannot be assumed Jones would have seen that either.

The £4.3 million Sherwood will be a cup-tied spectator on Sunday; Graham rues the loss. “The run we’ve had is a lot to do with the strength in midfield of Sherwood and Steffen Freund. Sherwood makes good runs. He’s also a winner.” At least Tottenham’s German, like their Frenchman, will be there.