Tottenham 2 Arsenal 1: Still a long way to go, insists Michael Dawson

Michael Dawson urged Tottenham to keep their focus in the run-in after taking a giant stride towards Champions League qualification with a battling victory over Arsenal.

After a closely contested start to the game, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon both scored in a frantic 120-second spell before half-time to give Spurs a 2-0 lead at the break.

Arsenal pulled one back five minutes after half-time through Per Mertesacker’s header, but Spurs clung on to move third in the Premier League table and seven points above their north London rivals with 10 games to play.

“[To move] seven points clear and to get three points is massive,” Dawson told Sky Sports. “There’s still a long way to go but it’s a good day.”

The Tottenham captain, whose side stretched their unbeaten league run to 12 games with Sunday’s win added: “We’ve got a great team, we showed that today.

“It wasn’t perhaps our best performance, we didn’t keep the ball like we normally can. But we showed some determination and we got the three points we deserved.

“We want to be back in the Champions League. I think the celebrations after the game showed that. The fans will go home happy and have the bragging rights at work tomorrow.”