Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Brad Friedel has revealed his fondness for former club Aston Villa but insists that he will do all he can to prevent them scoring at White Hart Lane tonight.

The 40-year-old, who joined Spurs in the summer, admitted that he is looking forward to reuniting with his ex-teammates ahead of the "entertaining" fixture.

"[Villa] are a tremendous football club with a big following and the owner and chief executive are terrific people," Friedel told the club's official website.

"Obviously it will be nice to see some friendly faces in the opposition dressing room, but once the whistle blows I'll just be concentrating on trying to help us to win the game.

"This will be a very difficult match for us - they like to play football but so do we, so it could be entertaining."

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp returns to the touchline this evening after a three-week layoff following a minor heart procedure.