By Molly Burke
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has denied that his side are willing to give up in their bid to claim the Premier League title.
Spurs currently sit second in the table, ten points behind leaders Chelsea but the large gap has not ruined the centre-half’s hopes of becoming English champions.
“Obviously Chelsea are the favourites at the moment for the title, but we won’t give up until they lift the trophy. I think we’re doing well,” the Belgian international said according to The Belfast Telegraph.
“We just have to aim for the highest position possible – at the moment it’s second place. We will push for first place.”
The weekend’s results saw Tottenham claim three points at White Hart Lane following a 2-1 victory over Southampton, despite star striker Harry Kane being out with an injury.
Meanwhile Manchester City and Liverpool were held to a draw on Sunday, denting both sides’ hopes of catching up with Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
“We have to keep winning our games,” Vertonghen continued.
“The other teams (in the top six) are dropping points and playing each other, so we have to make sure that gap is big enough to secure qualification for the Champions League as soon as possible.”
Spurs’ front-man Kane was substituted early on in their FA Cup game against Millwall earlier this month and with the striker claiming 19 Premier League goals this season, whether his side would still be able to keep up their brilliant form was up for debate.
However midfielder Christian Eriksen admitted that the whole team worked well to compensate for his absence.
“Everyone felt the responsibility without Harry,” Goal report the Dane as saying.
“We have 11 players to replace Harry when he’s not here but the players are good enough to substitute (in for Kane).
“It was very important that someone else scored, of course, and we had to keep it going.”
Spurs’ win over the Saints proved that the North London outfit could cope without Kane, with Son Heung-min taking his place up top, however it was Eriksen and Dele Alli that provided the goals that secured them another vital three points.
“(The role) was exactly the same,” Eriksen added.
“We still played the same system, it was just a different player, Sonny, up top instead of Harry. (Son) is a dribbler, he wants the ball at his feet to make his runs and he’s a different player.
“I think we did really well in the first half, but, obviously, the second half was a bit tougher.”