Villas-Boas fears racism in Italy as Spurs prepare for Lazio trip

Andre Villas-Boas fears the racist chanting that soured Tottenham's home game with Lazio may happen again when the teams meet at the Stadio Olimpico tonight.

Lazio were fined £32,500 by Uefa after chants were aimed at Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend during the 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane in September.

"Uefa decided to punish Lazio and rightly so, but it doesn't meant that incidents won't happen again," said Villas-Boas. "We hope they won't. We think the players are in the right frame of mind to leave the authorities to deal with that."

Paul Gascoigne, who played for Tottenham for four years before moving to Lazio in 1992 for a three-year spell, is due to salute the crowd on the pitch before the Europa League match. "He was from my generation of football and everyone around the world knew him," added Villas-Boas. "He's a great personality and we're very pleased he'll be here."