Winger Aaron Lennon put himself on a collision course with his Tottenham manager on Wednesday by denying claims he fell ill minutes before kickoff in the 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid.
The England international was selected for Spurs for Tuesday's Champions League match at the Santiago Bernabeu, but manager Harry Redknapp said Lennon was replaced at the last minute by Jermaine Jenas because the winger had ''no energy, no strength.''
However, in a defiant post on his Twitter account, Lennon contradicted Redknapp by saying he had been feeling ill since Sunday.
''Saying i fell ill be4 the game is (expletive) i fell ill on sunday morning where the med team put me on anti botics, but only got worse b4 tues,'' Lennon wrote.
In another post, Lennon said he was devastated to have missed the game, adding he ''will not be made a scapegoat saying they only knew jus b4 K O.''
After the match, Redknapp said Spurs lost Lennon ''just as the teams were walking on the pitch.''
''He hadn't been feeling great all day. I said, 'Are you ok?' and he said, 'I don't feel like I have any strength or energy to run,'' so I had to pull him out,'' Redknapp said.
''He went out to warm up, came in and just said he didn't feel well and wasn't fit enough to play. There is nothing you can do.''
Tottenham said Lennon would be assessed when he returns to training on Thursday.
The London team's heavy defeat leaves it with little chance of making the semifinals when the sides meet for the second leg at White Hart Lane next Wednesday.
