We're not title contenders yet, says Tottenham's' Micky Van de Ven

Micky van de Ven says Ange Postecoglou's side are not afraid of anyone but believes it is too early to call Tottenham title contenders.

Hope has returned to north London at the end of what had been a largely difficult year, with Spurs' struggles in the second half of last season compounded by homegrown star Harry Kane's exit.

Summer appointment Postecoglou has brought excitement back to Tottenham, who moved up to second in the Premier League with Saturday's last-gasp, incident-packed 2-1 win against nine-man Liverpool.

The bookmakers' odds on Spurs winning the title continue to shorten and victory at Luton next weekend will see them, temporarily at least, go top, but defender Van de Ven is just enjoying the moment.

"It's early to say," the Netherlands international said. "But hopefully we can keep pushing now and we are going to see where it's going to end.

"It's early to say if we are title candidates this year but we will keep pushing, keep pushing and we're going to see.

"We want the best this season so we're going to see where it will end.

"We are not afraid of any team. We will keep playing our way and hopefully we can improve even more from how we are playing now and hopefully we can keep pushing."

Van de Ven may not want to talk about the title but had no issue saying that Champions League qualification is their goal after a memorable start to the season.

Spurs have certainly ridden their luck on a few occasions in the opening weeks, but nobody was thinking of such moments as they celebrated their second stoppage-time 2-1 win in as many home matches.

"It's really good in the dressing room," the smiling summer signing from Wolfsburg said. "I think the mentality of the whole team was really good.

"We kept pushing, pushing and