Alex McLeish slams 'calamitous' Aston Villa defending against Tottenham

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish labelled his side's defending at Tottenham as "calamitous" and demanded an improvement against Swansea in their next match.

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish labelled his side's defending at Tottenham as "calamitous" and demanded an improvement against Swansea in their next match.

The Villa boss was left to pick the bones out of an emphatic defeat to Spurs in last night's defeat, knowing his side were probably flattered by a 2-0 scoreline having been completely outplayed at White Hart Lane.

A first-half double from Emmanuel Adebayor was enough to give Tottenham the points and prompt manager Harry Redknapp to place Spurs among the Premier League title contenders.

But, despite the home side's dominance, McLeish still expected more, from his defence in particular.

He said: "It was a bad night for a few of our players – a bad day at the office – and they know they owe us one. They owe the fans and me a performance in the next game.

"The goals we lost were calamitous – we've got to defend better than that. Spurs were gifted two goals and the second one was a circus."

Read the full story in today's Express & Star.