Wilson Palacios recalled at Tottenham thanks to mum's word with manager

The demands of the fixture list are not the only factor that will force Harry Redknapp into a reshuffle tomorrow. The Tottenham Hotspur manager will give Wilson Palacios a rare start against Everton at White Hart Lane tomorrow afternoon – because the Honduran's mother has ordered him to. "I was out shopping in London with my wife the other day and we met Wilson and his mum," Redknapp said. "She couldn't speak English but through someone else who was there she told me she's come all the way to England to watch him play and I haven't been playing him. I just said: 'Don't worry Mrs Palacios, he'll play, he'll play.'" It may well be that behind every midfield strongman is a maternal enforcer, but a few months ago Redknapp would not have needed any persuasion to pick Palacios. After joining from Wigan for £12m in January 2009, the Honduras international became a regular in Spurs' central midfield, bringing power and dynamism to a position where Tottenham had long been considered flimsy. He became a seemingly indispensable member of the team. "He turned us around when he came," Redknapp said. "I remember when he got sent off against Blackburn [in April 2009] thinking, 'Well, that's our season finished' – he was that important." What made his performances all the more impressive was that he was producing them despite worrying about the fate of his younger brother, who had been kidnapped in Honduras two years previously. In May 2009 Edwin was found murdered yet after briefly returning home to mourn, Palacios continued to turn in sterling displays. Towards the end of last season, however, his form dipped and the 26-year-old has found himself on the periphery this term, making just one substitute appearance in the past four league games. "Jermaine Jenas has done well, Tom [Huddlestone] has been great, Luka Modric has played well in the middle so it's just been difficult to get [Palacios] in, which shows you how much we've improved in the last year," Redknapp said. "Wilson will come back strong, though. He's a real worker. He comes from a poor background and he hasn't forgotten his roots." Redknapp has not forgotten where he has come from himself in the past two years but, on the second anniversary of his appointment as the Tottenham manager, he attributed the club's rise from second from bottom of the Premier League to the group stages of the Champions League to his players. "It couldn't have gone better but we've got good players and that's really what it's all about. They just want to work hard and get on with things. I got a bit lucky taking over such a good group of players at such a great club." Those players looked out of their depth against the European champions, Internazionale, on Wednesday, until a second-half revival at San Siro restored respectability as they fought back from 4-0 down to 4-3. Redknapp is at a loss to explain why they made such a poor start to that game. "They shouldn't have been overawed, they're all world-class players themselves," he said. "They've just got to be switched on at the start of games – they started so slowly. Everything we'd shown them on the videos in the afternoon was exactly what happened. "We showed them the ball that cost us the penalty, we showed them the runs, but when they get out there they've got to think for themselves. I don't know why they started so slowly, they came out sloppy at West Ham the other week too for some reason. But they never do it at home."