Mind and body for Moussa

Moussa Sissoko feels his impressive recent performances are down to both his mental strength and hard work.

French international Moussa has been in inspired form for us in the last few weeks as we continue to fight on all fronts this season.

In our comprehensive 3-1 victory over London rivals Chelsea on Saturday, the midfield powerhouse was in fine fettle as he commanded the centre of the park, keeping the Blues' midfield trio of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovačić and Jorginho quiet under the lights at Wembley.

He admits, however, that it has taken hard graft and a positive outlook to get to this stage of his Spurs career.

“When I came here, there was a bit of criticism from a few people out there but that is football,” our number 17 reflected.

“Sometimes people are behind you, sometimes not so much, but you have to stay strong mentally and keep working hard. That’s what I did.

“So, at the moment I’m very happy. We’re doing well, we’re winning games and climbing the table. I hope we continue doing that.”

Moussa’s recent displays for us saw him recalled to the French national team for the first time since November, 2017, ahead of their final UEFA Nations League game against the Netherlands and a friendly tie against Uruguay.

The box-to-box midfielder appeared as a second-half substitute in both games for the world champions and so, while the return from international duty can sometimes be demanding for players, he felt ‘fresh’ going into Saturday's Premier League clash with Chelsea.

“Every player is different. For me, I was fresh because I didn’t play too much while I was away,” he said.

“In the first game, I played 25 or 30 minutes and in the second match, I came on in the added time, so I was fresh and I didn’t have any problems.

“Maybe for other players it was different but to be fair, we never looked tired, everyone wanted to play and everyone wanted to do well. 

“After the international break we’ve come back... it’s never easy but we’ve shown a lot of character. We tried to play from the beginning and I think we deserved the three points. 

“I was very happy and very proud with the performance against Chelsea. A derby match is always special, so we really wanted to do well."