AVB: Lloris must bide his time to shine at Spurs

Andre Villas-Boas insists Hugo Lloris is happy with life at Tottenham, but has warned the France captain he will have to be patient in his bid to wrestle the starting spot away from Brad Friedel.

Many assumed Lloris would immediately be installed as Tottenham’s first choice following his £8 million (€9.8 million) deadline day move from Lyon, but Villas-Boas said Friedel was still his number one after he put in an outstanding display in the last fixture against Norwich.

Following the draw against the Canaries, Villas-Boas said there was no way he could drop Friedel for tomorrow’s clash against Reading — a comment that did not go down well with Lloris and his national coach, Didier Deschamps.

Deschamps told a press conference last week that Lloris had “not appreciated the comments of his coach” and the player himself said Villas-Boas’s comments were “not nice to hear”.

The Spurs boss held a clear-the-air meeting with the 25-year-old this morning at the club’s new training ground and he insists the goalkeeper fully understands why he is sticking with Friedel.

“We have had a conversation with Hugo. We have no doubts about his talent and his future in the club, but against Reading we have made the decision to continue with Brad,” said Villas-Boas.

“At the moment we feel that Brad is looking consistent and deserves [to play] bearing in mind his last performance against Norwich, and against West Brom, which was extremely positive.

“Hugo just has to be patient and of course he will be patient.

“He told me, ‘I’m here to compete and I’m here to prove that I’m the best’.

“When you hear this from a player you know that the commitment is there for him to make sure that he gets into that position, so there is no issue.”

Lloris may even miss out on a place on Tottenham’s bench for the game at the Madejski Stadium as he has only trained once with the squad since his move due to the international break.

Villas-Boas has endured a miserable start to his reign, losing to Newcastle away and picking up draws against West Brom and Norwich at White Hart Lane.

The home fans booed their team off after the stalemate against the Canaries and had it not been for Friedel, the Londoners could have suffered a heavy defeat.

Tottenham looked clueless at times against the Norfolk club, but Villas-Boas denies he is under pressure.

“The first win comes when it has to come,” Villas-Boas said. “We have to assume the responsibilities for the results, but what we don’t feel at any stage — and particularly at this stage or this moment — is any kind of pressure, because the Premier League shifts on a weekly basis.”

Reading boss Brian McDermott insists he won’t be motivated by the opportunity to heap pressure on Villas-Boas.

Reading have also still yet to taste victory in the league this season so McDermott insists he is concentrating on getting his own team firing.

He said: “I don’t want to inflict pain on anyone, I just want to do the right thing for us.

“We are playing against Spurs — a fantastic side — and I know Andre quite well so I’m not looking to inflict pain, we are just looking to play our game and put on a performance for our fans.”