Andre Villas-Boas has likened Tottenham ace Jermain Defoe to Atletico Madrid star Radamel Falcao. The Tottenham manager's belief in Defoe is so strong that he even considers the England striker to be on a par with Radamel Falcao - the Colombian striker who scored bags of goals for Villas-Boas at FC Porto and is now setting the Spanish league alight with Atletico Madrid.

"He is one of the best strikers I have worked with," Villas-Boas said of Defoe, who has scored 10 times for Spurs this year.

"I certainly put him alongside Falcao.

"His hunger for goal is extreme. That makes things easier for you to work with because you don't have to teach a lot.

"I don't have a lot of experience. The experience I have is with a couple of strikers, but I put him up there with the best.

"He smells every cross and when the opportunity is there to tap it in.

"Plus he has the ability to turn on the defenders and he still has the pace in him to cause chaos."