Van der Vaart: We can win the title

Rafael van der Vaart claims Tottenham must now be taken seriously as Barclays Premier League title contenders - and they will show leaders Manchester City just why at the Etihad Stadium the weekend after next.

Spurs are now level on points with Manchester United and just three behind leaders City after another convincing performance as Everton were beaten 2-0 at White Hart Lane. Spurs could wipe out City's lead if they beat Wolves on Saturday ahead of the Blues' trip to Wigan on Monday night, and Dutchman Van der Vaart sees no reason why they cannot last the distance.

"Everybody knows Spurs have a great team and if we can keep playing like this, then we're also favourites to win the title," Van der Vaart told the London Evening Standard.

"We know we are good and apart from the first two games, we have won almost every week.

"When we played Man City in August, they were too good but in the last few games they have not been as consistent and they lost last night too (against Liverpool in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg).

"Maybe it's a little bit in their heads. They have invested so much money, so everyone expects they're going to win it but we're still there. Do we believe we can do it? Absolutely.

"The game against City is massive and we are really looking forward to it, but first we must beat Wolves.

"We are much better now than we were at the start of the season, so I am really looking forward to the games that are coming up.

"City have so many good players that even when they're not playing well, they can decide a game, whereas we're more of a team. It's going to be very interesting.

"We played well there last season but lost 1-0, so we will go there with confidence and there is no reason why we can't win. After the game at City, we will know where we stand."