Villas-Boas to name strong Tottenham side for Inter trip

14-Mar-2013 4:25:00 AM

The Spurs boss will be without Gareth Bale after he picked up a booking for simulation in the first leg but the Portuguese refuses to make wholesale changes in Milan

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has quashed speculation that he could field a weakened side for their trip to Inter on Thursday evening.

The Portuguese takes his side to Milan with a comfortable 3-0 lead after goals from Gareth Bale, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen put Spurs on the brink of a Europa League quarter-final spot.

When asked if he intended on resting star players, Villas-Boas told reporters: "No chance. There is no scoreline that could make us change six or seven players so we will play a strong team to make sure we go through in this competition. We take this game very seriously."

The north London club will be without Bale, however, after he received a caution for simulation in the first leg, his third booking of the season's competition, although Villas-Boas is confident that his side can do well without the Welshman.

"We've been in the situation where he is not with us and we got results," the Portuguese added.

"Gareth can make a difference in any game, we know. We will miss him but we won't want to prove anything without him because we believe a lot in ourselves and also we believe in Gareth.

"It's not a case of proving anything. We just want to do our job to get through. We had very difficult draws for the last 32 and last 16 in Lyon and Inter.

"They are two teams used to playing Champions League football and who are full of European experience.

"It's been a brilliant experience so far and it shows the route we've chosen to take, by playing it seriously, has paid off in terms of these fixtures, which has been amazing.

"Hopefully if we can manage to overcome Inter we can put ourselves in a strong position, although we admit there are still some very strong teams in the mix."