Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has insisted that Erik Lamela can only grow in stature and confidence following his performance in a 2-1 win over Sheriff Tiraspol.

Lamela scored the opener at White Hart Lane as Spurs secured safe passage to the Europa League knockout stages, with Jermain Defoe also on target to break the club's European goalscoring record.

Villas-Boas believes that the Argentine winger showed that he has the creative flair to warrant his club-record signing from Roma, while praising Spurs for booking their spot in the last 32 with two games to spare.

He told BBC Sport: "Erik Lamela, we had been waiting for him to have a game like this. We are particularly happy for him. He is very creative, has no fear to take on his man and beat him. It can only help in his confidence.

"It is a great pleasure for us to get through as soon as possible. We now want to ensure that we finish top so we can play the second leg at home.

"We upped the tempo in the second half, had more penetration and put more crosses in. It is a pity that we conceded a goal in our best period as I thought we could go on and score more goals. But credit to Sheriff, they had chances too. We are pleased to be through."

The 21-year-old's first Spurs goal came in his 10th appearance for the club across three competitions.