Vertonghen confident Spurs can end long wait

Jan Vertonghen insists Tottenham are capable of ending their 23-year wait for a victory at Old Trafford.

Having revamped the Manchester United squad with the signings of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, Alex Ferguson is desperate to win back the Premier League, and aside from an opening defeat at Everton the club have started the season strongly.

Tottenham’s record — they have only taken four points on trips to face the Red Devils since Gary Lineker scored in their last win in 1989 — makes them big underdogs for this evening’s clash, but Vertonghen insists they can pull off an upset.

Vertonghen knows what it is like to taste victory at Old Trafford having won there last year in the Europa League with Ajax. And with Spurs now seemingly finding their rhythm under new boss Andre Villas-Boas, the Belgian is hopeful about his team’s chances of putting their Old Trafford hoodoo to bed.

“We are strong enough to beat them,” Vertonghen said. “We have a good team, we’ve won the last two or three games now playing good football and everyone is hopeful of getting a good result at Old Trafford.”

Vertonghen, signed from Ajax this summer, has quickly become a fans’ favourite at the north London club after a series of eye-catching displays.

The Belgium international was a defensive colossus against QPR and has shown his versatility in the last two games by operating effectively at left-back.

He scored his first goal against Carlisle in the League Cup victory in midweek and also helped set up Jermain Defoe for the winner against the Hoops with a surging run from deep inside his own half. The defender admits that games like the one this evening row are the reason why he moved to White Hart Lane.

“Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie are two of the best strikers in the league and the reason I came to the Premier League was to play against people like them,” Vertonghen said.

“I wanted to play against the best players in the world and those are two of them.”