Luka Modric says reaching the Champions League group stages would take Tottenham Hotspur onto another level.

The Croatian was part of the side that beat Manchester City 1-0 at Eastlands to ensure the club finished fourth to reach the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

A potentially difficult two-legged tie must be negotiated before Tottenham can take their place in the group stage, and the Croatian has already turned his thoughts to the August encounters.

He said: "If we qualify for the group stages of the Champions League I'm sure this club will go onto another level. This club deserves to play football at that level.

"It was a fantastic season. I think right from the start we played very good football and in the end we finished in the Champions League, and that's a great achievement.

"We had a lot of injuries over the year but that didn't matter, whoever came in did very well. We have a great squad, a lot of good players in every position, in fact two players vying for every position.

"We've needed that as well because the season in England is long - two cups and the Premier League, and now we'll hopefully have the group stages of the Champions League next season to think about as well."

Peter Crouch was the hero against City with his late effort.