Defiant Dembele says Spurs will go forth without fear

Mousa Dembele insists Tottenham have no reason to fear anyone as they prepare to face West Ham in tonight’s London derby at Upton Park.

The pressure is on Spurs to re-establish their four-point lead over Arsenal ahead of next Sunday’s north London derby at White Hart Lane.

However, they go in to tonight’s game on the back of a morale-boosting triumph over Lyon in the Europa League — and the man who secured their progression to the last 16 on Thursday night thinks he and his team-mates are playing at the top of their game right now.

“We don’t have to fear any team,” said Dembele, who secured a 3-2 aggregate win with a 90th minute equaliser in the Stade de Gerland.

“People have respect for us. If you’re in a winning mood it’s important in the league.

“We have two more very important games coming up in the league so the confidence will stay high and that’s good for us.”

Given the gulf in ability between the two sides, West Ham are expected to approach the derby cautiously.

Tottenham have struggled at times to break down teams who shut up shop. They have often had to rely on the brilliance of Gareth Bale to come away with three points, but Dembele is confident Spurs will be able to overcome the Hammers regardless of the tactics they employ.

“It will be a different game to the Lyon one of course,” Dembele said. “Teams always have a lot of respect for us and they drop back so it’s always difficult. It will be a physical game, for sure, but we are used to it and this is a special match for us and the supporters too because it is a derby.”

West Ham midfielder Matthew Taylor, meanwhile, has urged his team-mates not to spend too long thinking about Spurs danger man Bale.

“The main thing for us on Monday night is to try and worry about ourselves,” he said. “Everybody’s talking about Gareth Bale because he’s playing well and scoring goals. He’s one of a number of players that we’re going to try to have to shackle on Monday night to get a good result.

“I wouldn’t want to suggest that Tottenham are a one-player team because they’re not.

“They’ve got lots and lots of exceptional players.”

There will be a minute’s applause to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of West Ham legend Bobby Moore before the game.