Villas-Boas applauds Terry focus

The Blues skipper learned on Wednesday he will be charged by the Criminal Prosecution Service for alleged racist comments he made towards Anton Ferdinand during the west London derby at QPR in October. Despite getting a barracking from the home support throughout Thursday night's Premier League match at White Hart Lane, the defender put in a solid display at the back and made a crucial intervention to deny Emmanuel Adebayor's goal-bound effort at the death. Unmarked, the Tottenham striker latched on to Gareth Bale's ball just inside the box, but Terry flung himself at the ball to avert what would have been a harsh defeat on the visitors as the match ended 1-1. Villas-Boas has given his unequivocal support to Terry, who has vowed to clear his name, ever since the race row erupted two months ago. The Chelsea boss remained as such on Thursday night, showering praise on the 31-year-old while insisting he never had any doubts about putting him in the starting XI in such a hostile atmosphere as a London derby. "His performances, commitment and concentration have increased since the incident and he anticipated the situation at the end there tonight. It was a big opportunity for Tottenham," Villas-Boas said. "His quality and talent are never in doubt. He's completely focused to the cause of this football club." Tottenham went in to the match as favourites and looked set to run riot when they began at breakneck speed, pushing Chelsea on the back foot before taking the lead through Adebayor in the eighth minute. Daniel Sturridge got Chelsea back in the game soon after and the visitors continued to threaten, going close to winning the game through Ramires, who should have buried a header when unmarked inside Tottenham's box towards the end of the second half. Villas-Boas' men would have leapfrogged Tottenham in to third with a win, but considering the hosts were on a run of one defeat in their previous 13 games, the Portuguese was pleased with his team's display. He said: "The result really doesn't matter. The performance was outstanding. If a ball had gone into our net in the last minute, I would have left satisfied. "We didn't lose two points. Coming here with Tottenham on the run they're on, with the form they're showing in the league, to get a point is excellent. "If you had said at the beginning of December that we'd go through these games with two wins and two draws, I'd have taken it running into the home fixtures. "Our second half was brilliant. For us to impose ourselves as we did is extremely gratifying." Villas-Boas' team sit 11 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City, but still thinks his team's chances of lifting the title are alive. "I think we can still win it," the former Porto boss said. "We came to Tottenham, a side who are title challengers, so it's a good point to get. We've been in worse situations before and recovered to seven points. I'm sure we can shorten the distance." Villas-Boas' delight was tempered slightly by the news that Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel had to come off with hamstring injuries and are now major doubts for the Boxing Day clash against Fulham. Spurs now have injury worries of their own too after Rafael van der Vaart came off with a hamstring injury that is likely to keep him out for the festive period. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp was disappointed to see his team lose momentum after such a strong start. "We dominated that first 20 minutes or so, then they scored against the run of play, but a point is a point," the 64-year-old said. "It got difficult in the second half. Rafa did a hamstring again and we had no one to play on the right comfortably. "I played Luka Modric there, and brought another striker on, and they had the extra man in midfield, so they had more possession and it was hard work for us."