Is this a must not-lose game and with no Champions League goals this season you must be itching to score tomorrow?
Yeah, for sure. It’s a really important game tomorrow. Big stage in the group, two home games coming up and we’ve spoken about how important it is to win and really put our stamp on this group. Of course from a personal point of view, I want to score in every game and I’ll be trying my best to do that to help the team. Yeah, there have been a few games in the group and I’ve been disappointed not to get on the scoresheet so I’m hoping tomorrow night, I can turn it around.
Every time you go down injured, the whole country winces as it's so close to the World Cup, do you feel that fear of injuries and how much of a presence does that have on your mind when you go out?
I think I mentioned it on the international camp. I feel like whenever you think about injuries, whenever you think getting injured, it almost has the wrong effect. I go into every game trying to give 120% for the team and that’s just the way football is. Sometimes you can be unfortunate and pick up injuries.
From my point of view, I do a lot of stuff not just at the club but away from the club to make sure I recover well and put myself in the best physical condition I can to not get injured but of course we know in football anything can happen. It doesn't change the way I play or the way I think. It would be wrong to do that. I do into every game trying to give my best for the team and the club and try and focus on that.
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How much has Tottenham changed since Antonio Conte arrived?
I think it’s changed a lot. I think we’ve really tried to change the mentality of the club, not just the players, the whole club in general and I think we’ve had a good impact on that. We still have room to improve, for sure, in all departments.
Antonio is a top, top coach. I feel like we have worked a lot tactically and physically and we’re really growing into mature players but the bottom line is we have to prove that on the pitch and we have to show that in games like tomorrow night when the pressure’s on. We have to be able to perform under those circumstances and that’s what we’re looking to do.
You had intense duels against Makoto Hasebe last week. He was celebrated in Germany and he’s 38. How do you prepare for him again?
Yeah, full credit to him. To be 38 and still playing Champions League football is great credit to him and his professionalism. It’ll be another tough battle. Whenever you play Champions League, you come up against top, top defenders. That’s a challenge for me, to try and score and help the team in any way possible. For sure, it was a good battle last week. I feel like we definitely had opportunities to score. We should have done better. We’ll take those good feelings into tomorrow and hopefully take chances when they come.
You have been linked with Bayern Munich, is that proof of your good performances?
I’m focused on Tottenham Hotspur and trying to do my best for us, for sure. Bayern are a top, top club but all my concentration is on Tottenham and trying to win tomorrow night.
Qatar could be the pinnacle of your career. How strange is it to juggle it all?
It’s going to be strange. Personally, I’m trying to just pull it into the back of my mind, and concentrate on Tottenham because that’s all we can do. We have a game every three or four days. It’s going to be strange in terms of we have such a hectic schedule, we are going to be playing, playing, playing.
Normally you have a six-week build-up to a major tournament. Now we’re going to have one week to switch our minds on to that feeling, and switch our minds onto the biggest tournament in football. That will be probably the most difficult thing, but we do so much preparation here. We work so hard towards each game that we play for our club. The World Cup isn’t something I’m really thinking about. I try to concentrate on one game at a time and do my best. That’s what I’ll continue to do.
You've launched your mental health campaign this week, which featured your release from Arsenal. Does that still drive you?
It’s always been part of my personality to prove people wrong and when you look back on my career, going out on loan and the things I had to achieve to get to where I am now, for sure, that’s part of my identity.
It’s a really important message for any young boys or girls wanting to become footballers or anything in life. There are going be knocks along the way, there’s going to be ups and downs, but it’s about how you cope with that, keep working and keep moving forward, but for sure my personality is to prove, not just people wrong, but to myself that I can be the best that I know I can be.
What did you make of the Euro 2024 draw question?
I didn’t watch the draw but I saw who we got. Euro 2024 seems a million miles away at the moment. For sure any qualifying campaign is tough, this will be no different. I feel like international teams are getting better and better every year, no matter who they are. We’ve got a World Cup to play first, then concentration turns to that European qualifying. I’ll look forward to that.
Does Erling Haaland's start to life in England and the goals he's scored take the pressure off you?
I think I have said before that I am not someone who likes to think or talk about other players too much. He has had a fantastic start to the season and full credit to him but it is nothing I can control. I am concentrating on what I can do and helping the team in any way that is possible. It has been going well so far in the Premier League. I want to try to score a few more goals in the Champions League for sure. People are talking about him and rightly so as he has had a fantastic start. We have a long way to go and there are a lot of games coming up. I am just concentrating on what I can do.
FIFA are yet to approve the anti-discrimination OneLove armband which you and eight other captains will be wearing at the World Cup, will you still wear it if they don't approve it?
I think it is a question that is hard to answer right now. We have decided that we want to wear it and that is our thought process going forward. It will be down to FIFA and I am sure the FA will be in contact with them. I have not heard anything personally yet. At the moment we are in line to wear it and so if anything changes we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
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