Aaron Lennon 'deserves a special mention' says Tottenham team-mate Scott Parker

Winger has been outstanding in recent matches

Tottenham midfielder Scott Parker believes team-mate Aaron Lennon is playing the best football of his career as he inspired Spurs to a 3-1 win over Reading on Tuesday.

Lennon was in scintillating form against the Royals as Spurs eased to victory without the talismanic presence of Gareth Bale on the opposite flank.

The 25-year-old Lennon has been impressive of late and Parker feels he poses a huge threat to opposition defenders.

When asked if he felt Lennon was playing better than ever, Parker said: "I think that's a fair comment. Over the last four or five weeks he has been unplayable really.

"He was at a different level (against Reading), not just his raw pace and his threat on and around the ball but his work rate was something very special.

"I couldn't think of anything worse if I was a full-back as him running at me. I'm sure every full-back out there has the same feeling really, he deserves a special mention - he has been brilliant."

One criticism of Lennon earlier in his career was the quality of his delivery into the box, but Parker reckons you can now see the results of plenty of time on the training ground for the former Leeds man.

"You can see that (he has been working on crosses)," he said.

"The amount of times he gets to that byline and he set up the goal (against Reading). He probably could have set up another couple if it had fallen for the right people. He has certainly added that to his game which is pleasing."

Bale has been the key man for Spurs in a number of games this season but Parker feels Lennon is due just as much praise as the Welshman.

"Everyone knows what qualities we have out wide," he said.

"Certainly Bale and 'Azzer' (Lennon) have been top of that really. I think Gareth is a fantastic player and sometimes gets all the headlines but certainly Azzer has been key to that as well."

Parker was introduced into the match by Andre Villas-Boas with just over 20 minutes to go as he continues his comeback from injury.

The 32-year-old required surgery on an Achilles problem following Euro 2012 but is now getting back to full fitness.

"I didn't think I would be out for as long as I was to be honest, but I always thought I would get back to where I need to be and it's just about hard work now," he said.

"My Achilles is fine. I just need to put in some game time and get some good training under my belt to get match fit."

Reading defender Adrian Mariappa still believes the Berkshire club have enough time to pull themselves out of trouble, despite languishing in 19th place in the table.

"I am not really looking at the league table," he said. "I'm just taking every game as it comes and we are trying to get as many points as we can. I will start looking at the table in May.

"The media have written us off but we were written off even before the season started, so we are confident we can put together a few decent results."

Reading have already done some business in the January transfer window after completing a move for Sporting Lisbon utility man Daniel Caricco.

They now appear to be close to a deal for Central Coast Mariners midfielder Tomas Rogic, with the A-League club's chairman confirming the talks.

"We have been in discussions with Reading and both clubs are fairly satisfied with what's on the table, and now it's up to Tom to reach a personal agreement with Reading," he told SBS' The World Game.

"I am not going to say what the figure is but there is an agreement there. Of course we don't want to see him go."

Villas-Boas also appears to be looking to improve his Spurs squad as they continue to chase a third-place finish, with Brazilian duo Willian and Leandro Damiao on his radar.

"We got in touch with Willian [in the summer] and he is one of the players that interests us," Villas-Boas said in the Daily Mirror.

"I like his style, but we could not reach the value Shakhtar were asking. It does not mean we won't try again.

"For Damiao, he had a spectacular Olympics. We follow the best players and youngsters. Leandro fits this profile."

PA