Sunderland, England - Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe revealed on Sunday that a last-minute change of boots led to his five-goal romp against Wigan Athletic. "I had a funny feeling before the game," Defoe said. "Adidas gave me a pair of green boots and I tried them on before the game, but (Spurs development coach and former striker) Clive Allen said I couldn't wear them, so I changed them.
"They were pinkish silver ones in the end, and I go and score five."
Spurs were leading 1-0 when Defoe hit a hat-trick in seven minutes - during which time Paul Scharner also scored for Wigan - to transform the match.
They went on to win 9-1, equalling the Premier League record set by Manchester United with a 9-0 win over Ipswich in 1995.
Defoe shot up to the top of the Premier League's goal-scoring charts with 11 for the season.
"I don't see why Defoe can't be the top scorer in the Premier League this season," said Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.
"It's about time he scored 20 goals in a season. He's been so sharp in training. You could see this coming."
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez insisted his side would bounce back against Sunderland next week.
"The damage of this won't be carried into the next game," he said.
"We have enough characters in the dressing room and we need to react in the right way. I have never been involved in a game like this.
"From the mental point of view, we'll get stronger from this. This is a very unique situation but we can use it in a positive way in terms of learning from these situations. We have never experienced this before.
"The biggest disappointment was how we started the first half, then the naivety that saw them scoring in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
"It's about damage limitation after that in terms of going into next week, avoiding yellow cards that will be carried into next week."
