David Howells: "I love the way this team sticks to its principles"

David Howells quite possibly reflected a collective sigh of relief from his 1990 team-mates after we put our Stamford Bridge hoodoo to rest on Sunday.

Two goals from Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen’s fine strike saw us home 3-1 and took us eight points clear of the Blues in the Premier League.

The players on duty in our last away win at Chelsea back in February, 1990 have been reminded more than most of that statistic as the years have gone by.

David was on target that day with Gary Lineker in a 2-1 victory in the old First Division.

Below: David introduced at the White Hart Lane finale

“Every year I look out for this fixture and think ‘I’ll be getting a few calls that week!’ and although it’s been quite nice for me to get a mention, from the Club’s point of view it’s been a negative statistic, so to bury it is brilliant,” said David, who played 335 times for us between 1986-1998.

“We’ve been close over the years, played really well there on occasions but it hasn’t fallen for us and for one reason or another we haven’t got a result. The way we did it was class as well.

“I love the way this team sticks to its principles.

“It wasn’t going for us in the first half but we kept trying to do the right things, kept trying to do what the manager believes in and we never duck away from that.

“We kept trying to play. We did that at Liverpool as well. We don’t turn away from what we believe in and we’re good enough to do it.

“It was a sensational goal from Christian before half-time to help turn it around and that shifted momentum. We kept playing and eventually, as in most games, we break teams down. It takes a special player to be able to score a goal like Dele's first, and he's a special player.

"Sanchez and Vertonghen were brilliant with and without the ball. Dier was outstanding. Dele's a sensational player. We showed real composure to see it out at 3-1 and that's about experience - the players have learned from their experiences over the last couple of years.

“It’s so difficult to live with us - it’s hard playing against Tottenham these days!”