Mousa Dembele revealed Tottenham have surprised even themselves by mounting a title challenge this season.

With eight games of the campaign remaining, Spurs are second in the table and in perfect position to take advantage should leaders Leicester, 1-0 winners over Newcastle last night, stumble during the run-in.

Last August, a top-four finish looked to be the best Spurs could hope for. Yet they are lasting the course under Mauricio Pochettino and Dembele admitted that the players had revised their opinions of what they can do.

“Yes, [we’re] surprised,” said Dembele. “We believe in ourselves but we surprised everyone and of course we are very happy about this.

“The ambitions change during the year, of course."

"We’re up there, we play as a team and for us, this is what we deserve and we want to go further, of course.”

Tottenham’s season has been underpinned by the performances of Harry Kane. As the club’s sole senior centre-forward, Kane has been under huge pressure to deliver and he has responded with 22 goals in all competitions.

“Everyone can see he is an unbelievable player, who can make the team win even if we’re not playing that well,” added Dembele.