Tottenham ace Jermain Defoe admits he copped pelters from his family after being sent-off at Portsmouth last month.

Defoe is determined to keep his cool for club and country ahead of Saturday's friendly international with Brazil in Doha and also to avoid an ear-bashing from his mother!

He said: "What did my mother say when I was sent off? She hasn't seen it still. I called her after the game and she asked me what I had done. I said 'watch it on Match of the Day.'

"But she said she didn't want to watch it because she would than have given me a mouthful! I'm glad she didn't see it, to be fair. My grandad saw it and gave me a bit of stick.

"I have matured a lot. Maybe, when I was younger at West Ham, I'd get involved because I'd get frustrated a lot. I remember in the youth team, the manager used to tell me I've got to keep a cool head.

"Maybe what happened was because it was a big game, going back to my old club, and because I was getting a bit of stick. Maybe I was just too fired up before the game. It's important to try and keep cool because we could have lost the game.

"I let my team-mates down. I said sorry because we could have lost the game. It's something that won't happen again. It was out of character. I don't even get booked any more, I try not to get involved. It was out of character."