Toby Alderweireld admits Tottenham received a reality check after throwing away their two-goal lead to lose to West Ham in the League Cup. Spurs were unbeaten in 11 games and arrived at Wembley after thrashing Liverpool in the Premier League and holding Real Madrid to a draw in the Champions League.
Toby Alderweireld
But they were undone by a struggling West Ham side that scored three times in the second half to pull off an unlikely 3-2 win. Andre Ayew scored twice and Angelo Ogbonna's header completed the turnaround after Dele Alli and Moussa Sissoko had put Tottenham in control.
"We were not flying or anything in our heads, but I think it's a good reality check that you still need to work very hard, even if you're 2-0 up, to get results," Alderweireld said.
Tottenham's Danny Rose (left), Ben Davies and Dele Alli confront West Ham's Mark Noble during a League Cup match on Wednesday. Pic/AFP
"You have to keep the level up because if you drop it a little bit you see what happens. It's a good thing to learn. Of course we'd love to have won, but we don't have to be too dramatic about it. Next time we have to do better, and we focus on Saturday."
Tottenham visit Manchester United tomorrow in a battle of second against third in the Premier League and they will hope to have Harry Kane back for the trip to Old Trafford. Kane was rested after going off clutching his hamstring against Liverpool, but the club remain optimistic he will be available this weekend.
