Published: 11 October, 2012
by STEVE BARNETT

SPURS boss Andre Villas-Boas paid tribute to his sides four match winning streak on Sunday after they defeated Aston Villa 2-0 – and told the New Journal he was now gunning for his former club Chelsea.

The west Londoners are the next team up at White Hart Lane after the international break – and AVB, who was sacked by Chelsea in February, said playing a team that is top of the table was a great challenge that he and his players relished.

He said: “We have the opportunity to play and beat the league leaders and that is great for motivating the players. We are showing some great consistency now and we have good levels of confidence.”

He added that he recalled going to the Lane last year with Chelsea and that he was aware of how important the fans could be in deciding a derby.

“When the stadium rocks, it rocks properly. We love to have that type of intensity here,” he said.

Meanwhile, AVB also revealed that dropping Brad Friedel – who had played 310 consecutive Premier League games before being replaced by Hugo Lloris for the home victory over Villa that kept Spurs in fifth place – did not mean he had picked his Number One.

“We felt after playing Hugo in the Europa League on Thursday it made sense for him to play the next match in the Premier League, before appearing twice for France in Internationals.

It keeps his form high and allows us to count on two great keepers. So we are fortunate that we can do this rotation.

“The change was not based on performances. We spoke to Brad about our decision and he deserves respect. Obviously Brad was disappointed, but he is a good professional.”