AVB not taking chances against Inter

AP

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas is taking nothing for granted. Picture: Clint Hughes

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London – When asked if he was finding it hard juggling Tottenham’s Premier League and European commitments, Andre Villas-Boas’s response was emphatic. “No chance,” he said, repeating how seriously Spurs have taken the Europa League.

Even with a 3-0 first-leg lead against a very poor Inter Milan, Villas-Boas will not rest players and believes Tottenham are in a strong position to win the competition if they go through on Thursday. “There is no scoreline that could make us change six or seven players,” said Villas-Boas. “So we will put out a strong team to make sure we go through in this competition. We take this game very seriously and have a good advantage from the home game, but it’s difficult versus Inter in their own stadium.

“The route we’ve chosen to take, by playing it seriously, has paid off in terms of these fixtures. Hopefully, if we can manage to overcome Inter, we can put ourselves in a strong position, although there are still some very strong teams in the mix.”

Emmanuel Adebayor and Aaron Lennon, who both missed Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Liverpool, have travelled, but Gareth Bale will miss out on a return to the San Siro, where he scored a superb hat-trick in Spurs’ 4-3 Champions League defeat by Inter in October 2010.

The winger is suspended after three yellow cards in the competition this season.

Clint Dempsey should return from a calf injury against former club Fulham on Sunday. – Daily Mail