Spurs boss believes title still in sight

HUGO Lloris insists Tottenham Hotspur still believe they can win the Premier League despite the shattering blow of their FA Cup semifinal defeat against title rivals Chelsea.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side left Wembley brokenhearted on Saturday after dominating for long periods before conceding two late goals in a dramatic 4-2 loss.

The psychological damage inflicted on Tottenham’s players cannot be underestimated and they have little time to recover as the title race heats up this week.

Second placed Tottenham travel to in-form Crystal Palace tonight.

While Lloris acknowledged Chelsea now have renewed confidence they can hold off Tottenham’s challenge in the final handful of games in the season, the France goalkeeper is convinced his club will not surrender without a fight.

“We know Chelsea have an advantage but we need to believe until the end,” Lloris said.

“They are human and that’s the case for us. The only thing that we can do is keep working hard, keep believing and playing the way we have played in the last few weeks.”

Losing at Wembley capped a miserable few days for Tottenham after the club was rocked by the sudden death of their Under-23 coach Ugo Ehiogu earlier in the week.

Harry Kane, who scored Tottenham’s first equaliser on Saturday, said his team has dedicated their title chase to former England defender Ehiogu.

“Of course the last couple of days have been tough,” Kane said.

“Ugo was a great character around the training ground, it was just shocking news to be honest.

“Of course, we’ll do everything we can to win the league for him.”

To have a chance of honouring Ehiogu with the club’s first title since 1961, Tottenham need to extend their seven-game winning streak in the league.

Kane knows the pressure is on and there was a hint of frustration in his voice as he tried to deliver a call to arms ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park.

“It’s hard to say what effect it will have. Of course we wanted to win and keep our momentum going but it didn’t happen,” Kane said.

“We’ve got six very difficult games home and away so we’ll do everything we can to get as high up the league as we can.”

Deep in relegation trouble when Sam Allardyce took charge in December, Palace have climbed seven points clear of the bottom three thanks to a series of shock wins.

After beating Chelsea and Arsenal, Sunday’s 2-1 win at Liverpool was Palace’s latest scalp, but Eagles boss Allardyce wants his team to keep their foot on the gas against Tottenham because he does not believe they are safe yet.

“Thirty eight points has been the target to be safe for a long time but we’re not mathematically safe yet,” he said.