Andre Villas-Boas has made light of the suggestion he should be replaced at Tottenham by ex-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Pressure has increased on Villas-Boas since Sunday's 6-0 loss at Manchester City and ex-chairman Alan Sugar said he would like to see Ferguson take charge. 

"I think it is pretty fair [to say Ferguson could do better]," the 36-year-old manager said with a smile.

"With the record he has, he would be a pretty good manager at any club.

Spurs are currently ninth in the league with 20 points from 12 games - a point behind United.

They sold last season's top scorer Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for £85m but had been expected to be among the challengers for the title having brought highly-rated players - forwards Erik Lamela and Roberto Soldado, Brazil international Paulinho and midfielder Christian Eriksen - to the club.

But the north London outfit have already lost four times and only scored nine goals so far in the league this season - the fewest of any of the top 12 clubs. In contrast, United have scored 20 and are unbeaten in all competitions since 28 September.

The champions, managed by David Moyes, who succeeded Ferguson in the summer, face Tottenham on Sunday and come to White Hart Lane off the back of a 5-0 win over Bundesliga high-flyers Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday. Spurs, on the other hand, battled to a 2-0 victory over Norwegian minnows Tromso in the Europa League on Thursday.

"I watched the game last night [Wednesday] - it was a good performance but it will have no bearing on Sunday," added Villas-Boas.

"They are on a good run that changed their fortunes. We don't expect an easy match, but it will be a completely different story [for United] on Sunday.

"I'm not being disrespectful, but it will be a different game in different conditions and our players will be mentally ready."

The Portuguese manager said his side's win in Norway, courtesy of a second-half own goal and Mousa Dembele's strike, provided a much-needed boost for the players.

"I am very happy for the players to have bounced back from the defeat against Man City," he added.

"Obviously the opponent we have on Sunday is the biggest we can have. But to prepare for that game, it was important to get back to winning ways tonight and we did it in a fashion where we looked solid and created lots of chances. I am extremely happy with the performance and result."

Germany midfielder Lewis Holtby, who came on as a substitute against Tromso, said: "We needed some confidence from somewhere. If it was a long week [between games] then it would have been in everyone's heads.

"It wasn't the best game, but after the nightmare on Sunday it was good to get a result and a little confidence."