Paulinho's mission

Reinvigorated midfielder Paulinho has targeted an improved win rate in the Premier League after his recent return from World Cup duty.

The Brazilian international joined up with the squad at the beginning of last week, having recharged his batteries following a summer of international football that saw his country enjoy the highs of hosting the tournament and winning their group – only to be humbled by eventual winners Germany in the last four.

With appearances in six of Brazil’s seven matches at the showpiece competition under his belt, the 26-year-old hopes to use his experiences of playing on the world stage to his and our advantage this season – with an improvement on last year’s tally of 21 domestic wins at the forefront of his mind.

“I’ve been back for just over one week and I feel good,” said Paulinho, who has been enjoying a well-earned rest after a near two year playing stint that started with his final season at Corinthians before taking in last summer’s Confederations Cup, a gruelling first campaign here at Spurs and then the recent World Cup finals.

“I still have to train a little bit more with the squad and I’m not at 100 per cent yet, but it’s going well. It’s very good to see my team-mates again and I hope this season we can be better.

“It was a good experience for me at the World Cup, but now I have to think about the Club and about the season ahead. We have to try to win more games, and I’ll try to tell my friends and team-mates about my experiences in Brazil so that maybe it will help the group and help the team as we try to win a lot of matches this season.”

With his preparations for the new term having started late, Paulinho knows he’ll have to fight for his place upon his return to the matchday squad with a number of players having staked a claim for a place in the side in our summer friendlies.

Nevertheless, the box-to-box battler is hopeful we can get some early points on the board as we look to make a positive start to the 2014-15 campaign.

“Most of the players have had a chance to play this summer and it shows that Tottenham is a big club because we have top players,” he said.

“You have to fight for your place and I’m looking forward to the challenge, but I think the most important thing now is to think about the first game.

“West Ham are a good team but if we want to be better this season, we have to win our games and start well so I think it’s important that we are strong in the first game and then we’ll see how the rest of the season goes.”