Charlie Adam's row over penalty led to clash on team bus

Published on 09/05/2011 20:01

Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has revealed he had to intervene in a row between DJ Campbell and Charlie Adam on the journey home from their draw at Tottenham.

The pair had already had a disagreement on the pitch as Campbell wanted to take the Seasiders' second penalty after Adam had missed the first moments earlier.

Blackpool's captain got his way and emphatically put his team ahead before Jermain Defoe's late equaliser. However, Holloway said the argument continued long after the match had finished.

"It is a little bit upsetting for me that they care so much they ended up with a little row going on," he said yesterday. "I had to sort out a feud on the way home between DJ and Charlie, but that is how much they care.

"I actually would have agreed with DJ if they'd asked me. I thought he should have taken it. But it just shows what Charlie is all about, that he had the bottle to want it straight after missing one."

Holloway believes the incident can be taken as a positive rather than a negative as the team battle against relegation with two games to go.

"The bottom line is that DJ wanted to win so badly, so did Charlie, and that is what it is all about," he added. "You have to look at what is at stake. We are all so desperate to stay in this wonderful league.

"We had some things to say to each other in the dressing- room afterwards. Everybody had something to say. But they have to remember how proud I am of them. Nothing will ever change that, and nothing will ever change how I feel about this place."

Adam was also in the spotlight for a robust challenge he made on Tottenham's Gareth Bale, and the White Hart Lane club confirmed yesterday that the Welshman will miss the rest of the season after suffering a ruptured ankle ligament.

Bale had to leave the ground on crutches and Spurs said that the PFA Player of the Year will wear a protective boot for the next 12 days before starting a rehabilitation regime. Despite the seriousness of the injury, he is expected to be fit for the start of pre-season training at the beginning of July.

Bale has been forced to miss nine of Tottenham's games in the second part of the season due to back and hamstring problems. His absence has coincided with the club's slump in form, but manager Harry Redknapp is confident his squad will be able to cope without him. "It's a blow but we have been without Gareth quite a bit recently," Redknapp added. "He has had a fantastic season. The first three-quarters of the season he was unplayable, but over the last couple of months the injury situation has taken its toll on him."