Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe admits he was worried after a recent red card that his national team boss would look down on it.

The England international was sent off for an incident in the Spurs versus Portsmouth clash last month and was forced to miss three matches.

He admits that he was worried what England manager Fabio Capello would say and was down on himself as he thought it may have been a backwards step in such an important time for the national team.

"It's a World Cup year next year so you want to try and do everything right. I don't want to let myself down," Defoe said.

"Everything seemed to be going my way. I'd worked hard, got my goals. I don't want to spoil it by getting sent off and doing silly things like that when I can avoid those situations.

"The England manager's watching and he doesn't want to see players getting sent off, even if he's watching it on television.

"He's told us that keeping 11 players on the pitch is one of the most important things we have to do. He wants 11 players coming off the pitch at the end of the game. At this level, you can't afford to be a man down. You just can't.

"At that level, going down to 10 men, you give the other team the advantage and you could lose the game," he added.

"You'd let your team-mates down, your country down, the manager and the staff. You have to be professional and keep a cool head. I can promise it won't happen again."