Character after internationals pleases Toby

Toby Alderweireld felt the team’s character was epitomised by the way they came together to beat West Ham on Saturday, just a couple of days after regrouping at Hotspur Way.

International duty over the past fortnight had seen many of our players in action across the world – in some cases, right up until the early hours of Wednesday morning – meaning the squad had little time back together on the training pitches to prepare for the trip to the Hammers.

As it was, Erik Lamela’s header on 44 minutes gave us the win at the London Stadium, but the team had to fight to secure the points as West Ham put us under significant pressure in the second half.

It marked our best ever start to a Premier League campaign but it was the team’s battling performance and character which gave centre-half Toby the most satisfaction.

“It’s always difficult after the international break,” he admitted. “We only get to see each other for a couple of days and then we have to perform.

“It’s not easy but we knew we had to perform and get the three points.

“Like history shows, it’s a difficult place to go (to West Ham), but I think we did well. It was a tough win, we dug in and we had to fight for it.”

Toby was pleased with the defensive resilience we showed under heavy pressure towards the end to claim maximum points from what is always an intense derby.

“You know, when you come here, it’s not always about playing good football, it’s about digging in and bringing three points away with you,” he said.

“If it stays 1-0 until the later stages then you know crosses will come in, pressure is going to come and they’re going to take risks at the end of the game, but I think we defended well and kept close. Sometimes we needed a bit of luck as well but overall it was positive.”