The England international scored a double against London rivals at Craven Cottage, netting on 72 minutes before firing home again just five minutes later.

Bale limped off with a hamstring injury during the clash much to team-mate Defoe's disappointment, but the striker feels Andre Villas-Boas' squad has enough quality to make sure results do not suffer.

"Obviously Gaz (Bale) is a massive blow for the team," Defoe told Absolute Radio.

"The way he plays you can't really replace a player like that, but at the same time I think someone else can come in and do a job for the team.

"Luckily enough we've got a strong squad, we've got some great players, players that can come in and players that can play out of position, players that can adapt and do a job for the team."

Spurs boss Villas-Boas was under the microscope following an indifferent start to their Premier League campaign, but Defoe insists that he is not under pressure at the club.

He added: "Obviously there's times like at the beginning of the season when we weren't really getting results and he was getting a little bit of stick and to be fair he's always been calm, always been calm.

"He's been in training and you'd never look at him and think 'this is a man under pressure', he's always been calm and in training as well and now we're getting results."