Danny Rose is driven on by the chance to make this season “one of the best Tottenham has ever had”.
Spurs took a major step towards booking a fourth successive top-four place in the Premier League on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Brighton while they are in the semi-finals of the Champions League, with a two-legged tie against Ajax beginning next week.
It has been an impressive campaign for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, who were in the title race until February, against the backdrop of crippling injuries and delays to their new stadium.
And with a massive few weeks coming up, Rose and his team-mates know they have an opportunity to make history.
Rose said: “Bar one week when we lost to Burnley, Chelsea and drew to Arsenal, I think over the course of the season we can be proud of what we’ve done.
“It’s not over yet, we’re in the home stretch and we’ve got a chance to make this season one of the best Tottenham has ever had.
“We roll on to a massive game at the weekend (against West Ham) and an even bigger one against Ajax.”
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Rose adopted a cautious approach when asked what this Spurs squad was capable of, having had his fingers burned previously this season.
Rose played much of the game against Brighton as a winger as they went for the three points (John Walton/PA)
“I fell into this trap, saying what we could achieve two months ago when we were in the mix with Liverpool and City,” Rose said.
“I thought we were right in there. I don’t want to fall into that trap again. I’d rather keep it in the dressing room.
“We know what we’re capable of. Every team the manager puts out he’s fully expecting to win. We’ve got to keep believing and see where it takes us.”
It was not easy against Brighton, who put 11 men behind the ball, and it needed an 88th-minute winner from Christian Eriksen to seal the three points, which were timely considering top-four rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United all dropped points over the Easter weekend.
“In terms of the league, it says that there’s no league like the Premier League,” Rose said.
“I switched the Chelsea game on after 20 minutes on Monday night and it was 2-2. I couldn’t believe it.
“I didn’t expect the Arsenal result and United as well. I was driving home from training, it was 1-0 and then I got home and it was 3 or 4-0. I couldn’t believe that.
“The results have gone for us. As the game was going on I thought it was going to be one of those nights, but we’ve capitalised on those bad results and we’re over the moon we’ve got the three points.”
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Brighton, whose Premier League survival fate is still in the balance, came to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looking for a point and almost got it thanks to some resolute defending.
Eriksen’s late moment of quality proved decisive, though, to leave the Seagulls gutted.
“We frustrated them all evening but they’ve got that bit of magic and they got through,” defender Shane Duffy said on the club’s official website.
“It’s quite hard in there [the dressing room], but we’ve got to take confidence from it going into a big one on Saturday, and I feel like we’ve got our belief back.”
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