Saturday 28 November 2015 23:07, UK
Jan Vertonghen says Tottenham's motivation to beat Chelsea on Sunday will ensure they shrug off any fatigue.
Spurs face the Premier League champions in a midday kick-off at White Hart Lane on Sunday, just over 48 hours after a 5,000-mile round-trip to Azerbaijan, where Mauricio Pochettino's side secured their progress into the last 32 of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Qarabag.
Vertonghen, who has formed a fine partnership with Belgian compatriot Toby Alderweireld at the heart of Spurs' defence this season, played 90 minutes in both the 4-1 win over West Ham last Sunday and against Qarabag, insists there will be no excuses.
"It seems very tough but when you go on the pitch on Sunday at 12pm you have to do it," he said.
"It's a good game for us to be motivated. We will be on top again like we always are and everyone will be fit again.
"If you see a team in a run of good form like us, you can keep going until the last minute. Last season we scored a lot of goals in the last minute so that shows just how fit we are. We have a big squad and everyone is ready to go again and again.
"We don't have to look for excuses. We'll be ready for Chelsea."
Spurs would close the gap on leaders Manchester City to two points with victory over Chelsea while also putting 13 points between themselves and Jose Mourinho's side.
"They are a good team, but we have shown great form this season, especially at home," Vertonghen added.
"It will be another big game, but it's like that every week in the Premier League. We will have to be on top of Chelsea to beat them.
"Thirteen points ahead would be a lot, but they have one of the best squads in the Premier League - maybe even the best squad - so they can turn things around and we expect a very good Chelsea side on Sunday.
"We set our goal as fourth place, so just because we have won a couple of games in the last week we can't say we have to go for the title. We will just try to finish as high as possible and anything extra will be a great achievement.
"We have some very young players who are very ambitious. For them it's important to achieve something - last year we made the final of the League Cup which was a good thing but this group wants more and this year I think we are ready to do it."
