Tottenham Transfer News: Villas-Boas Ready for Risky Step

Andre Villas-Boas has revealed Tottenham Hotspur are willing to take the risk of not buying a striker in January.

Spurs are presently without both recognised senior forwards. Emmanuel Adebayor is with the Togo squad at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Jerman Defoe suffered a minor ankle injury in training and missed the weekend's FA Cup match against Leeds United.

Versatile midfielder Clint Dempsey led Villas-Boas' attack at Elland Road, with inexperienced academy product Jonathan Obika the only forward on the bench. And despite conceding a 2-1 defeat against the Championship outfit, the Portuguese tactician remains reasonably content with his options up front.

"We are happy with the options we have, but we understand injuries can put us in a difficult position. Obviously Ade [Adebayor] is at the Africa Cup of Nations and he has already missed a couple of games, but we have to see how he progresses in the competition and then have him back," Villas-Boas told Goal.com.

"He [Defoe] got a knock in training unfortunately ruling him out of this game. He will definitely be back for the Norwich game. I think, as I have told you before we are comfortable. It [not signing anyone] is a risk we are willing to take," the 35-year-old stressed.

Villas-Boas also hinted it was unlikely Tottenham would make any other additions in this window. There was speculation the north London side was attempting to fast-track the deal for Schalke midfielder Lewis Holtby but when asked if the German could arrive in January, the manager replied: "Not sure, probably not."

The former Porto and Chelsea manager also acknowledged his side performed poorly in the first half of the weekend's game, leading to their exit from the FA Cup.

"It was a difficult game to play, the second half was better than the first but we could have done better to avoid the defeat. We could have done better defensively and offensively," Villas-Boas said.