"We're a good side. If we're bold in the summer, we can build a team again that can be right there again next year. The league is changing and a top-four position is very difficult to achieve."

"I think we are going to have to win the lot. We are going to need 12 points. It is going to be very tight but we are capable of doing that."

For the moment, let's not worry about the future prospect of Chelsea winning the Champions League and turning fourth place into a Europa League spot in the process. Let's look instead at the past and the present. Ten short weeks ago Spurs beat Newcastle 5-0, with a performance full of verve and creativity. Those same qualities were on show this past weekend - but unfortunately at St. James' Park, as a resurgent Newcastle put three past Stoke without reply.

Well, at least Spurs can now concentrate fully on finishing fourth. The "goal that never was" in the FA Cup semi-final has been analyzed, dissected and examined ad nauseam, and it could certainly be argued that it was the turning point in the game. The final score, however, would seem to suggest that a Chelsea victory might well have been the eventual outcome, regardless of the latest glaring error committed by the hapless Martin Atkinson.

Newcastle's win at the Liberty Stadium - their fourth in a row - keeps them hot on the heels of Spurs, who themselves face another north-east club this weekend. With the gap between fourth and fifth now standing at just two points Spurs will be hoping not only to take something from their visit to Sunderland, but also that Wigan can maintain their recent run of good form when they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

There's been an awful lot of doom and gloom lately about Spurs' supposed slump, which has seen that other team from north London claw back a ten point gap and take over third place. Harry Redknapp, however, has been typically sanguine about the run of results which has seen Spurs take two points from a possible fifteen:

Defeats in the Premier League, that is. Spurs are now clinging on to third place by a single point, following the last gasp victory against Newcastle by that other team from north London. The last time Spurs lost three on the bounce, Juande Ramos was shown the door and Harry Redknapp took his place.

Although it was a much improved performance against Man Utd, Spurs have lost their last two league games, conceding eight goals in the process. This has had the effect of narrowing both the points and goal difference gap over the side in fourth, who themselves will have been buoyed not only by their recent victories in the Premiership but also by nearly pulling off a miracle in the Champions League.

"They've been great to me and I've enjoyed every minute of being at Tottenham. We all appreciate each other … I'm not going to leave them in the lurch, things are going really well. The fans are great, so I've just got to keep doing the job I'm doing."

The very first comment from a reader of this blog following the Manchester City game last month was simply "I'm proud to be a Spurs fan". That statement no doubt reflected not only the way Spurs held their own in the backyard of the Premier League leaders but also how they conducted themselves in the face of thuggery. A repeat performance was required by the team at Anfield on Monday night and was duly delivered. And, unlike at the Etihad, Spurs emerged on this occasion with the point that their display merited.