Has Postecoglou turned corner with 're-energised' Spurs?

Spurs have won three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since December 2023

When Tottenham Hotspur suffered a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat four weeks ago, it was difficult to see anything but a messy end to the season for Ange Postecoglou.

Yet on Saturday his side recorded a third league win in a row with a 4-1 defeat of Ipswich Town at Portman Road - the first time Spurs have achieved the feat since December 2023.

The result not only boosted their aim of securing European football again next season, but showed what they are capable of when not ravaged by injuries.

"We're certainly in a good space, using these two weeks as well as we could to re-energise the team," said Postecoglou, whose side are 12th in the table and face a Europa League last-16 tie against AZ Alkmaar.

"I just feel like we've got a really good opportunity in these next 10 days to be well equipped for what's ahead.

"What's ahead is obviously Europe, but also an opportunity to address our league position, which is obviously not good enough."

Winning is one thing, but the manner in which Tottenham picked apart Ipswich - and remained resolute at the other end - was impressive.

Brennan Johnson's two goals came against the run of play but were the result of superb wing play from Son Heung-min, while Djed Spence - with his first top-flight goal - and Dejan Kulusevski's strikes came when Spurs needed to kill off the game.

"I thought we did the hard things really well," added Postecoglou. "A couple of times in the first half we lost a bit of concentration in terms of the second ball and duels, disappointing goal we conceded, but aside from that I thought we handled that side of the game really well.

"I always felt we were a threat when we had the ball. Sonny [Son Heung-min] was unplayable in the first half and so good to get Brennan back in those areas where he's always a threat.

"All four of our goals were quality goals. We had to do the hard things, but the fruits of that labour was that our front third play was super exciting and clinical."

Returning stars provide lift after injury crisis

Tottenham's injury issues this season have been well documented and they haven't completely overcome them yet.

Striker Dominic Solanke is currently sidelined with a knee injury, while defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have thigh complaints. Richarlison remains unavailable, while Ben Davies dropped out of the squad for Saturday with a fresh issue.

"We've still got some significant players out, [but] they're all to come back," said Postecoglou.

But the situation has certainly improved of late, with Wales forward Johnson, James Maddison, keeper Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie having returned in recent weeks.

The current absentees are expected to be back within three weeks, meaning Postecoglou could have a near-full contingent of players for the most crucial stage of the campaign.

Chance to finish on a high

Despite their struggles between November and January, Postecoglou's side sit 10 points behind fifth-placed Bournemouth.

With fifth place likely to be enough to secure Champions League football next season, seventh will guarantee a place in the Conference League, provided a side outside the top seven doesn't win the Carabao Cup. Newcastle - who face league leaders Liverpool in the final - are currently eighth.

If Tottenham continue this run of encouraging performances and results then it's not far-fetched to imagine them closing that gap.

Before the March international break, they have back-to-back home games against Manchester City and Bournemouth, before a trip across London to face Fulham.

In Europe, should Postecoglou's side overcome AZ, then they would face Eintracht Frankfurt or Ajax in the quarter-finals.

Bodo/Glimt, Olympiacos, Viktoria Plzen or Lazio would await in the semi-finals, meaning Spurs are one of the favourites to win the competition.

While Postecoglou's ambitions at the start of this season haven't played out how he hoped, there is still plenty at stake for Tottenham to finish on a high.