Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas hails captain John Terry

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas praised captain John Terry after his team's 1-1 draw at Tottenham.

The England captain played 24 hours after learning he would face a racially aggravated public order charge after an incident with QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in October.

Villas-Boas said: "John's level of performances have increased since the incident happened.

"He is a fantastic player, his talent and commitment are never in doubt."

Terry, taunted throughout by the home support, ensured the game ended level with an injury-time goal-line clearance from Emmanuel Adebayor, who had given Spurs an early lead before Daniel Sturridge drew Chelsea level.

Villas-Boas added: "John's condition is fantastic and we have seen great, great performances from him. He anticipated the situation perfectly at the end to save a goal."

The Chelsea boss was delighted with his side's performance and hinted once again that he is ready to move for Bolton's England defender Gary Cahill when the transfer window opens in January, with Alex having been granted a transfer request.

He said: "We will be in the market for a central defender, it's pretty obvious. I spoke about Cahill in the pre-match press conference. We think he's extremely interesting but I cannot speak a lot about one player that doesn't belong to me.

"It is not fair on Owen Coyle with the December fixtures that he has but he [Cahill] is one extremely talented player, although it would be stupid for us to restrict our targets to just one."

Chelsea started slowly at White Hart Lane but hit the post through Didier Drogba before half-time and were on top after the break, with Ramires heading their best chance of a winner wide.

Villas-Boas added: "I think that our passing game exploded to wonderful levels here. It is fantastic to watch this team play when they find each other in possession the way they did. It was outstanding, remarkable.

"Coming to Tottenham and playing this kind of football is gratifying. The character and personality we showed, and the way we adapted to new realities after injuries was fantastic to see.

"I want to see people who will die for the cause and our commitment was excellent. Even if Tottenham had won this game, our performance was very satisfying."