Roberto de Zerbi spoke about the challenge of facing Coventry City.

The Sky Blues endured an even worst opening to the new campaign than Tottenham in the first four weeks. An opening day defeat (3-0) to reigning champions Arsenal was followed by 1-0 losses to Coventry City and Manchester City, then a 5-0 thrashing against Brighton at the CBS Arena.

But they bounced back with a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest before the international break to get their first three points, backing up the result with an emphatic 4-1 success over Newcastle United.

·‘We want to show to be good enough to win the games’

Those six points put the promoted outfit four clear of Tottenham, whose last gasp Dominic Solanke equaliser against Manchester United should not blindside critics from another case of wasteful final third activity. After four matchdays, they were one of only four teams in the top five European leagues to have not scored a single goal, and the side sit in 20th position after Fulham defeated Hull City 1-0.

For what it is worth, confidence can be taken from the fact that Spurs still earned a point last Saturday despite going down to ten men with a red card for Rodrigo Bentancur before Solanke’s strike. In any case, de Zerbi knows that his men must cultivate confidence from somewhere to show their best work.

"Coventry is a good team. They played a fantastic Championship last season.

“They deserve to win the league and to play in the Premier League this season. They play with energy, with quality, because they have players, Sidiki Cherif, I know very well, and other players.

“But we are Tottenham and keeping humble, keeping humility, keeping what you want, but we want to show to be good enough to win the games, especially if we deserve to win the games."