Rose: Lamela reacted with anger at ‘top-four for Spurs’ question

Erik Lamela: Has belief in Spurs' title bid

Erik Lamela: Has belief in Spurs' title bid

Danny Rose has revealed Tottenham team-mate Erik Lamela was “disgusted” with him after the former asked the latter whether he thought Spurs could finish in the top four.

With just 11 games remaining in an unpredictable title race, Tottenham sit second, two points behind leaders Leicester, after a battling victory over Swansea on Sunday.

Rose scored the winner in that game, meaning Spurs have won six consecutive league games.

Speaking ahead of Tottenham’s game against West Ham on Wednesday, Rose has revealed Lamela’s reaction when asked whether he thought the club could finish in the Champions League qualification places.

“Before the Manchester City game I was having dinner with Erik Lamela and I was still asking him if he reckoned we can finish top four,” said Rose. “I’ve never seen someone look at me with such disgust. He said ‘My friend, we can win the league’.

“I refuse to believe. I’d like to believe we can, but I don’t want to think that. I realise the position we are in, but I don’t want to get too carried away.”

Asked whether he thought Mauricio Pochettino’s side were better than the Gareth Bale-inspired edition of 2010, the last time Spurs qualified for Europe’s premier competition, Rose replied: “I have thought about this a lot. I’m not sure. It’s probably the best togetherness I’ve had and that’s probably more important than actual ability.

“We never give up for one another, we’re willing to run to the end for one another and we’ve shown that today, but I’m not sure whether it’s the best one since I’ve been here.

“Under Harry (Redknapp), nine times out of 10 we played with two strikers so I reckon it was a bit easier than it is now. We play with a lot of midfielders and only Harry (Kane) as the main striker, so it’s harder for Harry when teams come here.

“Our pitch isn’t the biggest so it’s harder to go in behind, but we’ve got great quality throughout the squad. It’s our problem to work out how to break teams down and for the majority of games this season we’ve done that.

“Last season, teams didn’t really respect us. They came here thinking they would get a few chances, playing with two strikers and trying to score as many as possible, but it’s different this season.

“Opponents know we’re a much better team and it’s credit to us. It’s very difficult once a team get into position, trying to break them down. Luckily we’ve managed to do that in the majority of games and, hopefully, we can keep going until the end.”