He took it very well - Poyet and Ramos defend Defoe's furious reaction to being taken off after scoring
Tottenham manager Juande Ramos and assistant Gus Poyet have leapt to Jermain Defoe's defence after his fury at being substituted last night.
Defoe netted after just five minutes as Spurs won 2-0 at Manchester City to reach the Carling Cup semi-finals.
However, the England man was then taken off after just 21 minutes following Didier Zokora's red card as Ramos brought on an extra defender in Teemu Tainio.
Defoe was stunned and showed his fury by raging in the direction of Ramos as he took his place in the stands.
It was only Defoe's second start under Ramos and he was keen to impress with skipper Robbie Keane completing a three-match ban.
However, Poyet insisted: "I think Jermain took (going off) really well - he knew it would have to be him. He wasn't happy because of the sending off.
"He had the chance to start and he scored, but unfortunately he was picked by the manager to come off. He'll have chances. Don't worry."
Of the incident, Ramos added: "It wasn't a sending off, not in a game like this.
"A cup tie generates a heated atmosphere, and the referee has to be a bit more flexible. It was unfair.
"But Defoe understands the change was tactical. He knows we had to bring on an extra defender."
First blood: Defoe opens the scoring after just five minutes...
...then angrily takes his place in the stands with the other Tottenham subs 16 minutes later
