Tottenham's five-game survival plan starts this weekend at bottom club Crystal Palace.

The White Hart Lane side have eight games left, five of which are against teams struggling at the bottom of the table.

After this weekend's clash at Selhurst Park they face Everton at home and they still have to play Newcastle, Barnsley and Wimbledon.

With a 42-point cut predicted for safety manager Christian Gross knows that a victory is vital against Palace in order to ease the pressure.

If the unthinkable happens and Palace win their first home game of the season, Spurs could find themselves in the bottom three come Saturday night.

Veteran defender Clive Wilson is no stranger to relegation struggles having been at QPR when they dropped out of the Premier League.

And he admits that Spurs face a real scrap for survival -- but one thay can win.

"Our destiny is in our own hands still,'' said the 36-year-old.

"Every game seems to be massive at the moment, the Bolton game and the Liverpool game and now this one.

"Palace have just had a good result and they have some of their best players back like Lombardo, Padavano and Shipperley. They will also be boosted by the new management team.''

Tottenham's preparations for the clash have not been helped by so many players being away on international duty -- one of whom, Ramon Vega, scored against England for Switzerland on Wednesday evening.

Jurgen Klinsmann was substituted at half-time in Germany's 2-1 defeat by Brazil on Wednesday. If he is fit he will probably partner Chris Armstrong up front.

Armstrong will be particularly determined to score against his old club as he knows only too well the pain of relegation.

The biggest problem for Spurs though will be creating chances. With David Ginola suspended for one game and Darren Anderton still out of contention, one wonders where the creative spark will come from.

Gross will be boosted by the availability of Ian Walker and John Scales on Saturday although Les Ferdinand is a definite non-starter.

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