Doherty on Serge: “We drive each other on”
Fri 11 December 2020, 11:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Matt Doherty and Serge Aurier continue to battle it out for the right-back slot - very much to the benefit of the team.
Matt stepped up for his 13th appearance of the season as we beat Royal Antwerp 2-0 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night. Serge, outstanding of late and with nine appearances under his belt, wasn't involved as goals from Carlos Vinicius and Giovani Lo Celso clinched top spot in Group J.
“I love it here,” stated Matt. “I came here in the summer and we’re (Matt and Serge) fighting it out, driving each other on, whether he plays or I play, we’ve pretty much played half and half this season, so we try to get the best out of each other, and any competition is going to improve the team.
“You want to play as many games as possible, you want to stay sharp, and there is nothing like game fitness. Fortunately, people who haven’t played one game have managed to play the midweek game, so everyone is fresh enough. I guess whatever the team is, we’re all in pretty good nick.”
‘Vini’ tucked home the rebound from Gareth Bale’s stunning free-kick (57 minutes) and Gio finishing clinically from another Harry Kane assist (71) as we controlled the sixth and final match in Group J at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as we progress to the knockout phase of the competition.
“Happy days, that was the goal,” said Matt. “We knew if we finished top, we’d get a more favourable draw than finishing second, so, look, last week was a bit disappointing (3-3 at LASK), so it was good to get a clean sheet and finish top.
“I thought our attitude was spot on. I remember from last season (Matt played in the UEL with Wolves), every game is difficult. People kind of think because they might not have heard of some of the teams or the players that it’s easy, but far from it. They are in this competition for a reason. We stayed professional, finished top of the group and that was the aim.”
The draw for the Round of 32 takes place in Switzerland on Monday (12noon UK).
The aim was also to keep another clean sheet, and as we racked up 21 attempts to two, that never appeared in doubt. It was our sixth clean sheet in the last seven games.
Matt added: “With the forward players we have, the midfielders, we know if we keep clean sheets, we’ll pretty much win the games. That’s down to us. It’s a collective thing, really, defensively, and I think you can see forwards, midfielders, everyone is working their socks off to keep the ball out of our net.”
