Hugo Lloris admits he has struggled with the mental and physical demands of the first half of the season and the disappointment of France’s World Cup final defeat to Argentina.
He also knows Tottenham haven’t been good enough form-wise or points-wise this time out. But experience tells the Frenchman, who has dropped a couple of major ricks since the World Cup, that the most important part of the campaign is still to come.
And he knows he and his Spurs pals need to be ready to do everything they can to change all that at the business end of the season. Lloris said: “You have to take into consideration that it’s not a normal season.
“From the beginning of September, we played every three days until the the World Cup. Then when you finish the World Cup, for the players who reached the final, in one week’s time you have to go back to your club and again repeat every three or four days.
“So it’s very difficult mentally but also physically to stay at your best. But that’s the demands of the competition this year. Even if sometimes you can face difficulties, you won’t give up, you want to continue, you want to push and also you want to be ready for this important period of the season.
“We know that from March until June is the moment that you win or you lose places in the table. But we know also that now we have a deficit of points and we have to run after the others to get the top four.
“There are plenty of games. We have to stay confident and positive. We also really want to reach the level that we should. Hopefully it will come soon and maybe it will happen for the most important moment of the season. The most important thing is to prepare ourselves and deliver good performances.”
Spurs travel across London on Monday night to take on a Fulham side who, sitting sixth and just two points behind Lloris and Co, have been one of the surprise packages of the season.
Lloris, whose side were 2-0 up at half-time against Manchester City on Thursday but lost 4-2, added: “Especially after a defeat, it’s always better to play sooner. Fulham are a very strong opponent.
"Whoever you play, whoever you face, the demands are very high. You always need to be at your best because on a bad day you can lose against any team. The most important thing is to look forward, to keep your chin up and be ready to compete.”
