Winks: It’s Final piece in jigsaw!

HARRY WINKS has claimed Tottenham will show a new arrogant streak as they hunt down Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League next season.

The gifted Spurs midfielder is convinced Mauricio Pochettino’s stars are genuine title contenders – after awakening an inner belief with their run to the Champions League Final last season.

The 23-year-old midfielder was an impressive performer as Spurs lost the showpiece clash to Liverpool, in what was his first game back after a hip operation.

And Winks (above) has revealed that the whole occasion in Madrid, despite defeat, has unleashed a positive force at Tottenham. Winks said: “Once you have a successful season like we did, you become more naturally confident as players.

“That breeds a competitive, winning mentality, and an edge in the dressing room.

“It might be subconscious, but I think we might go into the new season much more confident now – arrogant if you like, but in a good way – and that’s something that can only benefit us.

“A lot of our players have experienced big games, even finals, at World Cups. But to do it as we did last season, all sticking together when things weren’t going our way, makes it that more special.

Confident

“So now we are more than confident we have a squad that can win the Premier League.

“First of all you have to respect how good Manchester City and Liverpool are, and all the other teams too – Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United – that are looking to compete. You have to respect that, first and foremost.

“It’s a long season and we can’t affect what the other top teams do. So we will just take care of ourselves, starting with the opening game against Aston Villa, and hopefully we can build some good momentum.”

Winks added: “The magnitude of the Champions League Final was massive. It’s the biggest club competition in world football and we were all gutted to lose, it was so disappointing.

“We all went away on international duty, then on holiday, so we didn’t get the chance to sit down as a team and discuss it. I tried to clear my head when I went away to Dubai and America, but you never fully get over the fact that you’ve just lost the European final.

“You try not too replay it but I did – as a footballer it’s difficult not to think about certain moments, and the opportunity of winning it.

“When you get a sniff of something so big and fantastic, of course you want more. It was incredible.”