Tottenham can cope without Bale, insists Vertonghen

Dec 18, 2012 10:40:00 AM

The 25-year-old summer signing has pointed to the depth of his club's squad as proof that his side are not overly reliant on their star winger after Sunday's 1-0 win over Swansea

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen has pointed to Sunday’s Premier League victory over Swansea as evidence that his side do not rely on winger Gareth Bale to break defences down.

The highly rated Welshman is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury picked up against Fulham on December 1, with boss Andre Villas-Boas expecting him to return for the upcoming visit of Stoke.

Tottenham have won twice and lost once since Bale’s injury – with Everton notching two goals in injury time to beat Spurs – and Vertonghen, who netted the winner in the 1-0 win over the Swans, insists the squad is deep enough to cope without the 23-year-old.

"Of course Gareth is a world-class player, but we did well without him," Vertonghen told reporters.

"Maybe we needed a little more width on the pitch but Clint Dempsey replaced Gareth very well, like he has done with all the strikers already."

"We did OK against Swansea. We know they are a good passing team but we put them under pressure and created a lot of chances."

With Villas-Boas having been without the likes of key first-team members Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Younes Kaboul and Scott Parker for large spells of the current campaign, Vertonghen was also keen to emphasise the impact of such absences and the boost their returns will provide.

Parker made his first appearance of the season in the win on Sunday, while the left-back returned to training last week, but Kaboul is not expected to be ready until late January.

"We have a big squad but have had too many injuries. However, even without those players we’ve played quite well," added the 25-year-old.

"When everybody comes back we’ll have a very strong team. It’s important to enter Christmas with a good feeling."

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