Villas-Boas backs Defoe to fire Spurs

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas is confident that his team can score enough goals without Emmanuel Adebayor.

Adebayor will serve a three-match ban after being sent off in Saturday’s 5-2 defeat against Arsenal and will miss the fixtures against West Ham, Liverpool and Fulham in a tough eight-day schedule.

Villas-Boas has backed Jermain Defoe to continue his strong start to the season in the absence of the Togo striker, who he partnered at the Emirates.

“Do we have enough firepower? Yes,” he told reporters. “We have one of the league’s top scorers in Jermain Defoe.

“Obviously recently we have been playing with Ade and he’s been excellent, so we understand that he’s one less option, one very important player, but we have to adapt without him.

“Ade and Defoe have flourished well in the past and they know each other very well so to not have that will be hard to take. But the good thing is that the games against West Ham, Liverpool and Fulham are in one week so the player can be back quickly.”

Villas-Boas said he was proud of his players’ performance against Arsenal and predicted that their current run of three consecutive league defeats would soon end.

“It was a game that went well for us so we are proud of our players,” Villas-Boas said.

“Obviously, at 3-1 with 10 men, you have nothing to lose, so you have to have a go and I think they incarnated that spirit, particularly after the 4-1, where they never put their arms down.

“I think the fans should be proud of the players. There can’t be a booing situation when the players play with this passion and emotion and a desire to invert things.

“Our league position isn’t good at the moment but it doesn’t mean we can’t turn it around. When you’re poor, it can do damage, but when you play like we did against Arsenal I don’t think it can be.”