Sunday, 19 August 2012 04:12

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LONDON: Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas (pic) insisted they will step up their search for a new striker next week following this morning's 2-1 defeat to Newcastle.

Spurs' only established forward Jermain Defoe found himself on the scoresheet at Sports Direct Arena, yet the 29-year-old’s second half strike was not enough to prevent his side falling to defeat.

And while Villas-Boas was quick to praise his current squad, he insisted Spurs will look to reinforce their forward options before the end of the transfer window, with Brazilian Leandro Damiao and Emmanuel Adebayor long-touted for potential switches to White Hart Lane.

“We’ll continue to look at strengthening our squad,” Villas-Boas told ESPN.

“We now have to switch our focus onto the coming games, and do what we have to do in our search for one more striker.

“We’ve been very active in searching for a striking solution, but it hasn’t happened for one reason or another. I’m confident we can close it down in the next couple of days.”

Demba Ba, who has also been linked with Spurs throughout the summer transfer window, opened the scoring for Newcastle with a well-taken goal, before Hatem Ben Arfa sealed victory for the hosts from the penalty spot.

While Villas-Boas seemed to accept the decision to award the spot-kick, he was left to rue his defence’s failure to close down the Senegalese striker before he got his shot off.

“We could’ve done better on closing down Ba, but he’s obviously a top goal-scorer and in that split second he made the difference,” he said.

“For the penalty, Ben Arfa goes through two players and makes it difficult for the referee, but he gives it.

“I think we did deserve more, we played very well. We had most of the chances in the first half and continued to push in the second.

“When we had momentum, we gave the penalty, but I think we deserved to get something extra for the opportunities we created and the possession we had.”

Luka Modric’s switch to Real Madrid is set to be concluded in the coming week, although Villas-Boas insisted he had no role in the negotiations.

He confirmed: “Modric is another situation that is on the chairman’s hands, and he tells me that negotiations are on-going, so could happen soon.”