THE South stand of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium echoed with chants of “Antoniooooo, Antoniooooo” last weekend during their game with Eddie Howe’s Newcastle, who found themselves to be the victims of a 5-1 thrashing at the end of 90 minutes.

Spurs boss Antonio Conte shed light on the noticeable recent change in his side in the matchday programme, stating: “I have spoken about a strong team being a stable team and we are beginning to see that now.”

Earlier in the season, Spurs’ inconsistent form was a main talking point surrounding the club, but more recently, they have emerged with a strong identity on the pitch led by one of the best front threes in the league.

The manager has gradually instilled confidence in a team made up of a variety of characters and talents since joining the side in November, bringing out the best in players such as Eric Dier and Matt Doherty, which may come as a surprise to some.

The scoreline on Sunday made a big statement about the team and the managers’ collective intentions to push for top four, with goals coming from unlikely sources such as Doherty, Ben Davies and Emerson Royal.

For Spurs to score five goals and for none of them to come from Harry Kane says a lot about their mentality at present.

Despite the excellent display of attacking football shown on Sunday, fans and commentators alike praised Argentinian Cristian Romero’s performance, who it seems has earned the right to wear the number 4 shirt following fan favourite Toby Alderweireld’s departure.

The centre-back showed up in all areas of the pitch, consistently clearing the ball from danger, putting in solid tackles and blocks and kept his composure throughout.

Dejan Kulusevski appears to have hit the ground running since joining the club in January, as has fellow teammate and ex-Juventus man Rodrigo Bentancur, both of whom have already played a pivotal role in realising Conte’s vision.

If Tottenham can secure Champions League football, it will make the world of difference as to how things transpire in the summer in terms of attracting top players, keeping Harry Kane, and even Conte himself. 

On Saturday, they head to Aston Villa in search of another three points to further their campaign.

In terms of a starting line-up, one wouldn’t expect any major changes from last weekend’s squad, but Conte has revealed Sergio Reguilon and Ryan Sessegnon have returned to first-team training ahead of the trip to Villa park, and could well feature.

Reguilon missed last week’s win over Newcastle with a knock, while Sessegnon has been out since March 7 with a hamstring issue.

Conte said: “For the Aston Villa game, good news because Sergio had the training session and it was the same for Ryan Sessegnon. It was the first time for Ryan Sessegnon for a long time and for him we have to pay more attention than Sergio.

“But at the same time, it was good to have him with us in the training session.”

Before the injury, Sessegnon had appeared to be Conte’s first choice as wing-back, with Reguilon taking more of a back seat, but the duo’s return could increase the level of competition for spots in the starting XI, particularly after Doherty’s success playing as left-wing back against the Magpies last week.

This leaves almost a fully fit squad to make selections from, apart from midfielder Oliver Skipp, who has suffered a setback in his recovery from an ongoing groin injury, and Japhet Tanganga, who will be out until pre-season after having knee surgery.

The squad will be well aware of the importance of fierce rivals Arsenal’s loss to Crystal Palace earlier in the week, and with the north London derby now rescheduled for May 12, it could come down to the final games of the season to decide who will take the coveted place in the top four. Every point counts.