New Tottenham Hotspur head coach Tim Sherwood has claimed that his side have the ability to hurt any team that they come up against.

Sherwood was appointed as permanent manager yesterday having been in temporary charge of the team since Andre Villas-Boas left the club by mutual consent last week.

Under Villas-Boas, Spurs generally struggled against the top teams, losing 6-0 to Manchester City and 5-0 to Liverpool before the Portuguese manager eventually parted company with the club, but Sherwood believes that the squad possesses enough quality to compete with anyone.

"We have good players here and if we apply ourselves well, get the players playing as they can and get the right players on the ball in the correct areas, then we can hurt any team we play against," Sherwood told Spurs TV.

Sherwood's first game in full charge of the side comes against managerless West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day.