Tottenham Hotspur boss Andre Villas-Boas has expressed his belief that striker Romelu Lukaku is ready for the Premier League.

Lukaku, currently on loan at West Bromwich Albion, was brought to Chelsea by Villas-Boas, but was largely overlooked in favour of Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba during the Portuguese manager's time at Stamford Bridge.

However, the 34-year-old believes that the striker is now ready to take the Premier League by storm as he is no longer in the shadow of Torres and Drogba.

"I think he is ready for the Premier League. He is obviously a player with tremendous talent that competed last year against two of the world's best players at Chelsea," said Villas-Boas.

"Lukaku had frustrations last year that you can understand. It's up to him to compete but when you compete against Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba the job is difficult.

"Had he overtaken those two to be on team selection every weekend it would have been a tremendous achievement for a 19-year-old."

Lukaku and Villas-Boas are likely to come face to face once again when Spurs host West Brom tomorrow.