Goal.com

Jan 22, 2013 3:45:00 PM

The left-back has struggled to regain his starting berth in the side after recovering from injury, but is confident he will jump above the former Norwich loanee in the near future

Benoit Assou-Ekotto is unconcerned about losing his place in Tottenham’s starting XI because challenger Kyle Naughton is "not a real left-back".

The full-back has recently returned to first-team action after four months out with a knee injury, but manager Andre Villas-Boas has continued to prefer versatile centre-back Jan Vertonghen or right-back Naughton in the position.

However, Assou-Ekotto, who came off the bench against Manchester United at the weekend and delivered the cross that led to Clint Dempsey's last-minute equaliser, is confident that he will regain his first-team starting berth sooner rather than later.

"I am not worried about that because obviously I can do stuff with my left foot that he [Naughton] can’t do," Assou-Ekotto told reporters.

"He is not a real left-back and I do not think he has the same left foot as me, so I am not worried about that."

"To come back in the Premier League is quite hard because it is high tempo but sometimes it is easier to play against Manchester United than against a team in the bottom half. I think it was a good game to come back in."

The 1-1 draw with United saw Tottenham go three points clear in fourth place, but the 28-year-old feels the club must be wary of repeating the mistakes of last year, when Spurs blew a 10-point lead over rivals Arsenal, if they are to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

"I do not care [about Arsenal's results] and I do not think we should care about the other teams. We have to be focused only on ourselves and to have a target not to lose any games," he stressed.

"Even if Sunday [against Manchester United] was one point, maybe at the end of the season this point will be very important.

"We can be happy, with a positive attitude and say, ‘Okay, we got a 1-1 draw against Manchester United’ but at the same time we can be sad because we missed five good occasions against them.

"We did what they normally do to teams — we scored in the last minute. If we see the game this way we can say, ‘Yeah, it is a good point for us’."

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