Kane at the double as Spurs pump Hammers

Harry Kane scored his seventh and eighth goals in five matches as Tottenham Hotspur dispatched West Ham United 4-1 on Sunday to close on the Premier League’s top four. The best thing is that you can feel how the players believe in the way we play’.

Spurs must board a six-hour flight to Baku in Azerbaijan for Thursday night’s Europa League game, and return on Friday to begin preparations for Sunday’s London derby against Chelsea, who face a 10-hour round trip for their Champions League clash against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel on Tuesday.

Spurs’ only real regret was a booking for Dele Alli following a shoving match with Mark Noble, which rules the midfielder out of the Chelsea game, but Pochettino defended the 19-year-old, who was named man of the match in England’s 2-0 win over France last Tuesday.

They were made to rue that missed opportunity minutes later thanks to slack defending from a corner which allowed Toby Alderweireld to double the home side’s lead as the Belgian headed home unmarked to leave the Hammers with a mountain to climb. “We are a young squad”. It is true we have shown from the beginning of the season we are consistent but to win the title we need more. Spurs have shaken off a tendency earlier in the season to draw games they should have won – in large part to Harry Kane getting his scoring boots laced up again. “It’s hard to guess today what will happen in four or five months”.

“They are have some very good players and I see this as just a blip in confidence”. Although Manuel Lanzini dragged one back late on, his step-over beating Walker, freeing up space to smash the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle, West Ham were already crushed in spirit.

Mauricio Pochettino insists it is too soon to talk about Tottenham as candidates for the title despite a thrilling 4-1 victory against West Ham. “We know it was a special game for the fans and for that reason it is more disappointing”.

But Bilic refused to point the finger at the back four, explaining goals always come from mistakes. “It was a derby as well [against West Ham] so you want to get a good result and, for the rest, we have to look to our game and how we play, and the rest will come”.

“Considering the incredible start to the season we had away from home, our last two performances against Watford and Spurs have been poor in comparison”.