DAVID Wheater reckons the strong bond forged between Wanderers and Tottenham after Fabrice Muamba’s collapse will be cast aside temporarily for 90 minutes tonight.

Mutual respect increased 10-fold after the events of March 17, when Muamba went into cardiac arrest on the pitch at White Hart Lane and was saved only by the swift action of medical staff.

Just 46 days later, the midfielder is due to step out on to the pitch for the first time to thank both sets of fans before the game.

And while Wheater acknowledged the respect he has for the North Londoners for their role on that fateful night, he thinks the friendliness will cease once the first whistle sounds.

“Football doesn’t matter when you see one of your best friends like that, so to see him back and healthy is great and it would cheer us all up,” the defender said.

“The Spurs supporters were great on that night – even as we were coming out of the ground they were clapping us and I don’t think any of us have ever witnessed that before at an away ground.

“They were all tremendous – the staff, the fans, the players, and I think it’s a great club for what they did that day.

“It’s back to business now, though. They want to finish as high as they can, going for the Champions League, and we’re trying to stay up. It will be a very different atmosphere but we need our fans singing.”

Roy Hodgson’s appointment as England boss potentially impacts upon Wanderers’ next two games, with Spurs boss Harry Redknapp now free of the speculation over his future that has seemingly hampered his team’s run-in.

West Brom now know they will be losing their manager when they arrive at the Reebok on Sunday – but, casting his eye on tonight’s game, Wheater believes Spurs could get a boost from the FA’s decision to appoint Hodgson. “Harry Redknapp is free to concentrate on Spurs and I’d think the Spurs fans would like that,” he said.

“He’s done a great job there but as an Englishman I’d say it did need sorting out quickly before the European Championships.”

With time running out for Wanderers to save their Premier League status, Wheater isn’t about to forecast how many points will be needed in the last three games.

“We definitely need a win somewhere and the two home games are massive for us,” he said. “Stoke away is hard but we just need to gather as many points as we can.

“You don’t want to go there needing a win, so two wins in two games would be brilliant. If it comes to that, we’re just going to have to go and play our normal game.”