Aston Villa 0 Tottenham 4: AVB hails ‘super’ Jermain Defoe

Andre Villas-Boas hailed “super” Jermain Defoe after the striker handed his manager a selection headache as Tottenham Hotspur routed Aston Villa.

The England international, who has fallen behind Roberto Soldado in the pecking order at White Hart Lane this season, gave Spurs a first-half lead when he glanced Lewis Holtby’s cross past Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer.

Brazilian Paulinho netted his second in as many games shortly after the interval before Nacer Chadli and Defoe notched late strikes to put gloss on the League Cup third-round win.

And Tottenham manager Villas-Boas was full of praise for the 30-year-old striker for his tenacious performance at Villa Park.

“It was an important win. We used three players which played at Cardiff, which was a risk, but it was a great response from the team,” Villas-Boas told BBC Sport.

“We used all of our strength in depth. It was another super performance from Jermain Defoe, he showed great desire. His performances have been excellent.”

Villas-Boas was also delighted with Tottenham’s all-round performance as the 35-year-old utilised his new squad depth to hand run outs to the likes of Chadli and Vlad Chiriches.

“We’ve shown a great team spirit this year. The players are all buzzing for opportunities like this so most of them really performed tonight,” added Villas-Boas.

“We have great strength in depth so it allows us to throw such a strong team on the pitch after playing just two days ago.

“The best thing about this evening is that the players who came in responded well and respected the competition.

“I didn’t complain about the fixture pile up, I just said this game should have been played tomorrow.

“It was difficult for us but the squad really performed today. Hopefully if we can get the calendar right, we’ll be given the possibility to play on a Wednesday. If that happens we can be in contention.”