Lamela stays focused ahead of Italy return

Erik Lamela has vowed that the players will move on quickly from the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat to Liverpool as he looks forward to returning to the San Siro.

The Argentine attacker, who stepped off the bench to score in added time as we sought to make a late comeback against the Reds, played at the iconic Milan stronghold a handful of times during his two-year stint with Serie A giants Roma before his arrival at Spurs in 2013.

And as attentions turn towards our mouth-watering Champions League opener against Inter on Tuesday, the all-action star has underlined the squad’s desire to improve and produce another memorable European result in response to the Liverpool setback.

“I believe in this team and we will try to get better,” said Erik as the dust settled on our 2-1 defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s unbeaten Reds at Wembley. “It was a tough game (against Liverpool), it wasn’t our best performance but this is what we need to try to do – to play our best and after, okay, maybe we lose because this is the game. You can win, you can lose, but our mentality is to improve from this and we will do it.”

On the way Saturday’s game panned out, with Erik halving the deficit following goals from Georginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino for Liverpool, he continued: “Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time after my goal (to equalise). The game was finishing, we created one more chance to draw but the game after that was finished and unfortunately it was another defeat.

“The goal was like a bonus for me but next time I hope that it helps the team to win. I am sad for the defeat but I believe that we can win against Inter. We need to play well but, like I said, I believe in this team.”

One of the most high-pressure games Erik faced in the San Siro during his time with Roma was the second leg of a crunch Coppa Italia semi-final against Inter in April, 2013. Winning 2-1 from the first leg, Erik’s side went a goal down mid-way through the opening 45 minutes but roared back to win 3-2 on the night, 5-3 on aggregate, to book a place in the final, which they eventually lost to Lazio.

“It’s difficult to play there but we have an amazing group and we are more than capable of winning,” said the 26-year-old. “We have to play forward very well, but defend very well too because they have very good players. Sometimes we have bad days like now (against Liverpool) but I hope it’s only a bad day and on Tuesday we play amazing.

“On Sunday and Monday, for sure, we will be fresh and ready to go and on Tuesday, try to win in the San Siro.”