Villas-Boas hails Rangers' quality Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas believes QPR will not be involved in a relegation scrap come the end of the season. The west London club head across the capital on Sunday looking to prolong Villas-Boas' wait for his first home win in charge of Spurs. Mark Hughes and his predecessor Neil Warnock both spent large volumes of cash at Loftus Road last season, but QPR only avoided relegation from the Barclays Premier League by just one point after a frenetic final week of the season. Hughes has gone on a similarly lavish spending spree this summer, signing no fewer than 10 players - some of them top-draw additions like Julio Cesar and Esteban Granero. With the club having garnered just two points from their opening four games, the early signs are not good for the Rs, but Villas-Boas thinks it is only a matter of time before the new signings settle in and lead the team up the table. "At the moment QPR's position in the table does not reflect the team that they can be or where they can finish in the league," Villas-Boas told Spurs TV Online. "This is a team who have brought in tremendous players in the summer window. "They brought in very important players from all over the world, players who are European champions, players who have had success at international level. "They will virtually bring another level to the Premier League so it will be a very difficult game on Sunday and we have to be careful." Tottenham bounced back from their poor performance against Norwich by beating Reading last week and were unlucky not to take three points off Lazio in the Europa League on Thursday. The Portuguese thinks there could be no better time to win his first home game given that rivals Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City play each other on the same day. Villas-Boas will give Emmanuel Adebayor a fitness test to see if he has recovered from a hamstring strain and Kyle Naughton should be fit despite leaving White Hart Lane on crutches on Thursday night after taking a knock to his right foot against Lazio. Villas-Boas also has the unenviable task of deciding whether to put goalkeeper Hugo Lloris back on the bench again or bring a halt to Brad Friedel's record of 308 consecutive Premier League games by sticking with the France captain. Mark Hughes knows QPR will have to shackle his former charges Mousa Dembele and Clint Dempsey if they are to get anything from the game. The Hoops boss managed the pair in his spell at Fulham during the 2010/11 season in which he led the Cottagers to an eighth-placed finish. United States international Dempsey shone under Hughes, who can take much credit for bringing Dembele to the club from AZ Alkmaar. Fulham made a hefty profit on the 25-year-old when they sold him to Tottenham this summer and Hughes is well aware what a threat he poses. "I've got huge regard for Mousa," the QPR manager said. "He is an outstanding football player and now he is at a club which, and this is no disrespect to Fulham, has a higher profile and is getting a lot more attention. "But he was still producing what people have seen in a short period of time, week in, week out for me and Martin Jol when I left. "He is an outstanding footballer and I always knew when he came to the Premier League that he would make an immediate impact. He certainly has done that. "He is technically very, very accomplished. He is able to play in a number of positions: he can play off the front, right up top, he can play in midfield, he can play in wide positions. That's the quality of the player that we are talking about. "I knew almost immediately when he went to Tottenham that he would enjoy it and be able to fit in very, very quickly because he is an outstanding football player." While Dembele will likely receive a warm reception whenever he returns to Fulham, Dempsey - much like Hughes - somewhat tarnished his time at the club by the way he departed. The 29-year-old made it clear that he wanted to leave SW6 and, after a move to Liverpool failed to materialise, joined Dembele at White Hart Lane. Dempsey could make his Premier League debut for Tottenham in a match in which QPR are struggling for numbers due to injuries. The west Londoners' defence will be without Anton Ferdinand, Fabio, Stephane Mbia and Armand Traore for the White Hart Lane clash. Samba Diakite and Andrew Johnson are also unavailable, while Adel Taarabt is a doubt after picking up a hamstring injury. end
Source: PA
