Hugo Lloris sprinkled some cup final seasoning on Tottenham's home derby with West Ham on Sunday and conceded it will be “massive” in the race for a top-four finish.
Spurs put their bid for Champions League football next season back on track with a 2-0 win at Brighton on Wednesday night. Their last 10 games include this weekend's showdown with the Hammers, and Arsenal have yet to tiptoe up the Seven Sisters Road for the rearranged north London derby they were desperate to postpone two months ago.
Tottenham skipper Lloris admitted Sunday's game will have a huge bearing on their Champions League ambitions, but he insists Spurs' mixed fortunes of late should not be confused with a steady implementation of head coach Antonio Conte's philosophy. He said: “It’s clear, West Ham is going to be massive for us and could make the difference for the final race.
“When we started this week, especially after the disappointment of the Manchester United game, we had a clear target with Brighton away and West Ham home before the international break – to take maximum points to be close for the European places. It’s important to keep our feet on the floor and move game by game, but I really feel improvement of the team, even with the loss against United.
“The feeling after the game, there was frustration obviously but there was a real feeling that we are clearly showing a direction in the way we play football, and we showed it again at Brighton. It’s been now a few games in a consecutive way that we are growing in terms of maturity and growing in terms of good feelings, even if we had some disappointments like the FA Cup loss, the United game, Burnley away from home.
“I believe it's part of the process but it's clear and really important to understand that Sunday is massive for Spurs if we want to be in the right place for the final race, and keep our chance, keep our hopes for a strong finish to the season."
Conte's mood swings have matched Tottenham's results since the Italian took over from Nuno Espirito Santo. But the players appreciate his animation and Lloris added: “Obviously after four months we start to know each other well. I think he’s showing a lot of passion and he's doing his job with a lot of emotion.
“At some moments we can understand his frustration. The players as well, we have this frustration but we keep going, we keep working. “Antonio and his staff provide the best from day one and they are not the kind of people who are going to give up in any circumstances.
“You are in the Premier League and you face difficulties but everyone - coaching staff and players – feels the improvement. We really feel the way and the direction we want to take as a team and I think game by game we want to keep improving to make the chance to compete for the final race.”
