Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has praised Tom Huddlestone over his return from injury.

The midfielder missed nearly the whole of the last campaign with a serious ankle problem but he has regained fitness to feature in five of Spurs' games during the current season.

"He has been extremely good and his passing ability is tremendous," Villas-Boas told reporters.

"The way he has settled in the team and assumed responsibility, for a player who was out for so much time and to play this amount of games in such a short time, is all credit to him."

Huddlestone was close to a move to Stoke City over the summer before opting to stay at White Hart Lane.