Keep the faith, urges AVB

Andre Villas-Boas has called on Tottenham fans to be patient after his wait for a first win in charge continued with a 1-1 draw against Norwich.

Tottenham lacked confidence and looked tense throughout a disappointing first hour which could have seen the home side go 3-0 down had it not been for some excellent goalkeeping from Brad Friedel. Mousa Dembele opened the scoring on his debut but Spurs were booed off after Robert Snodgrass netted a late equaliser.

"You have to accept their disappointment. It has not been the ideal start to the season, but it doesn't mean that we haven't been working hard to get the wins that our fans want," Villas-Boas said.

"They have to understand that we are doing everything in our power to get that win. Obviously this is not the start we wanted and the start we deserve. We had two good games, Newcastle and West Brom, that we didn't win. Everybody wants to build more confidence but getting those first three points.

"Today it was disappointing for us to suffer again in the dying moments of the game and we have to work on our sharpness and concentration to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Villas-Boas expressed his delight at both the performance of second-half substitute Dembele and the deadline-day capture of Clint Dempsey. The Portuguese revealed a deal was also desperately close to conclusion for Porto playmaker Joao Moutinho on Friday.

"We agreed player terms late but there were situations regarding the contract that were not right so we didn't complete the transfer," Villas-Boas said. "We have enough cover without him. Moutinho's transfer not happening should not overshadow the fact we have pulled off one of the biggest coups of the transfer market with Clint Dempsey."

Villas-Boas' opposite number Chris Hughton has seen his team bounce back from their opening-day drubbing at Fulham with two consecutive draws. The former Tottenham coach praised the performance of Snodgrass, who fired through a crowded penalty area five minutes from time to seal the draw.

"Arguably we deserved to win," Hughton said.

"This is a tough place to come but we created a lot of chances. The thing I was most pleased with was the response. We are playing quite well at the moment, but to go one behind here, not let our heads drop, force the equaliser and then have a chance to win at the end, speaks volumes for the team."