Defoe delight as hat-trick takes him past idol in Spurs' scoring charts

Jermain Defoe celebrated a hat-trick for Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night as he went past one of his boyhood idols in the club's record books.

The England striker's treble against Maribor in the Europa League took him above legend Teddy Sheringham into eighth place in the Spurs all-time scorers' list 

Defoe netted all three goals in the 3-1 win, his first hat-trick for Spurs shirt since February 2010, to put him on 126 goals for the White Hart Lane outfit. 

The 30-year-old had earlier  in the day been left out of the Three Lions' squad to allow Roy Hodgson the chance to run the rule over some younger players against Sweden. 

But Defoe was delighted to go past former England star Sheringham in the Spurs scoring stakes as his side moved into second place in Group J.

"That's special on a personal note as Teddy was a player I watched as a kid," Defoe told ITV. "He was a great player for club and country.

"It was amazing. As a forward you get judged on scoring goals. It's the best thing in the world but it was important we won the game tonight."

And Andre Villas-Boas was just as happy as his no.9 as Tottenham won their first game in this season's Europa League group stage.

"[Defoe] was amazing," the Spurs boss said. "He makes the most of the opportunities he gets.

"It's important for him because he overtakes Teddy Sheringham's record in the club, which means a lot."