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AVB cools Tottenham transfer talk

Andre Villas-Boas has played down talk of increasing his attacking options in January © Getty Images

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Andre Villas-Boas believes his Tottenham Hotspur squad is good enough to finish in the top four without January reinforcements.

Saturday's 0-0 draw at home to Stoke City saw Tottenham drop out of the Champions League places and raised questions about their ability to unlock tight games. Rumours have escalated that they may be preparing a bid for Ajax's Christian Eriksen but, although the playmaker would appear exactly the kind of creator that Spurs lack, Villas-Boas says his team is fairly complete.

"I think we have enough to finish top four. It doesn't shift because of one result," he said. "Come on... let's have a realistic conversation. We had a chat the other day and we were fourth. Now, after one draw, we are fifth and yet it can't shift that much.

"What we want is to improve and to improve is to get Champions League qualification. The objective is ultimately to get that place.

"If we don't get it then we will have to continue to work to make sure we get it next time.

"There are a lot of teams with 30 points so, even if the teams get a couple of points, the difference is minimal. The Premier League is exactly like that.

"The team that sat third the other day now sits sixth or seventh in the league. Everybody is tight and competitive and, at the moment, there are four teams very tight together. It's very, very difficult.

"I think it's more important the way you finish... we need to continue to improve and be better in the Christmas period."

Villas-Boas also doesn't necessarily think that Tottenham did not need extra options in attack, despite appearing to lack reinforcements from the bench against Stoke in the absence of the injured Clint Dempsey.

"We don't think so. Clint [Dempsey] has been a tremendous player for us. I think he could have added an extra option. [Andros] Townsend came on the other day [against Swansea City] and was very strong. We went for [Gylfi] Sigurdsson through the channels and we have two proven scorers. We couldn't have done a lot really so that's one of the reasons I think we were sparing on the substitutions."

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