Peter Crouch hails fearless Tottenham team from 2010

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The former Spurs striker played a major part in his side’s run to the quarter finals of the Champions League the last time they qualified six years ago.

Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Peter Crouch has told the club’s website that the team that qualified for the Champions League in 2010 was fearless, ahead of Spurs’ second game against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday evening.

Now at Stoke City, Crouch played a huge part in Harry Redknapp’s side run to the quarter finals in the 2010/11 season, with that memorable win over Inter Milan announcing Gareth Bale to the world and topping their group in their first outing in the competition.

Although a 5-0 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid brought an end to their time in the competition, the 35-year-old praised the spirit and attitude of the team which included the likes of Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart.

“I’d played in the Champions League before that for Liverpool and I must admit I thought before we went into the season, because it was our first time in the Champions League with quite a young side, it might be a bit of a wake-up call,” he said.

“But we just went out there and battered teams! It was unbelievable. There was literally no fear at all. We just went at teams.

“The Twente game [where Spurs won 4-1] was a prime example – we just went out there and attacked them. We played really well.”

The current crop of Spurs stars hoping to emulate the unforgettable run of 2010 should take heed of Crouch’s reflection, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side needing a big result in Russia after a disappointing 2-1 opening defeat to Monaco at Wembley.

A dominant display at Middlesbrough, despite a second half scare, will give Tottenham confidence ahead of their visit to the Russian champions where despite lacking Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son’s double and the promising play of Vincent Janssen up top stands Spurs in good stead.

With Spurs also losing a group game in 2010 on their way to topping Group A, Pochettino’s side can be fully confident of doing exactly the same six years on.