Brennan Johnson is excited about what Tottenham can achieve this season with their improved squad depth.
Spurs were able to welcome captain Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma back into the fold for Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Brighton after their recent international commitments.
It was Son who set up fellow substitute Johnson for a last-gasp winner, which keeps Tottenham firmly in the hunt for Champions League qualification and as a big outsider in the title race.
Boss Ange Postecoglou has not had a fully-fit squad to pick from since November due to injuries, suspensions and national-team duty, but does now and has used options off his bench during the last fortnight to inspire home wins over Brentford and Brighton.
“You don’t play that well or with that togetherness if everyone isn’t on board. Everyone is firmly on board with how the manager plays,” Johnson insisted.
“At half-time he was so frustrated because we came away from the way we want to play and when we score goals like that, it is stuff we work on day-in, day-out so it’s a nice feeling because it is the rewards paying off.
“It is just excitement (in the squad). Everyone is back and we’ve missed some really key players. As the manager said, now in training we’ll be doing the starters against the sub team and most times you won’t be able to tell who is starting because the quality is so high.
“We have that competition in training, there is never any bad blood, everyone gets on so well in training and we just want to push ourselves.
“It shows like (here) and against Brentford, when people aren’t at it for one reason or another, it’s not down to them, but it shows the squad and the players coming on can make such a good impact.”
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The 96th-minute winner was Johnson’s latest encouraging moment after a mixed start to life with the north London club.
After struggling for form earlier this season, his third goal for Tottenham makes it four goal involvements in his last seven Premier League appearances.
Johnson told SpursPlay: “Moments like that are what you dream of as a player.
“Even when I was on the bench, I knew when we come on there is such good quality in the team. Coming on with a player as good as Sonny, when he gets the ball down the left-hand side, his crossing is unbelievable, especially off both feet.
“It was just about making sure I got it in. It felt like it was coming in slow motion but to get the ball in the back of the goal is a special feeling.”
Brighton were without boss Roberto De Zerbi at Tottenham with the Italian back in his home country recovering from invasive dental surgery.
De Zerbi also had a one-match touchline ban to serve, but his number two revealed he was in contact with his staff during the match.
“Yes, Roberto was the whole match in contact with us,” Seagulls assistant Andrea Maldera revealed.
“In the first half not too much because the match was easy to read, but in half-time I spoke with him and he gave to me and the team some suggestions.
“In the second half, the substitutions arrived from him because he is watching the match on TV.”
Parrott downs Hungary with last-gasp winner for Ireland as Euro 2024 preparations ramp up
Troy Parrott proved the last-gasp hero as Ireland stole a 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary, who suffered a blow less than two weeks before their Euro 2024 campaign starts.
Adam Idah opened the scoring in the first half at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, only for Adam Lang to level for the visitors four minutes later.
Yet Marco Rossi's team, who face Switzerland in their Euros opener on June 15, fell to late defeat as Parrott delivered a 92nd-minute winner for the home side.
That late strike ended Hungary’s 14-match unbeaten run (W9 D5) since losing 2-0 to Italy in a Nations League match back in September 2022.
Rossi may not be too concerned as that run was their longest undefeated streak since an 18-match streak between September 1954 and November 1955.
Hungary will also take comfort from the dominance of Dominik Szoboszlai, who created six chances in this match, the most of any player on the pitch and the same amount as all of his team-mates combined.
Switzerland, who join Hungary, Scotland and hosts Germany at the upcoming European Championship, were victorious on Tuesday after a 4-0 success against lowly Estonia.
Steven Zuber, Xherdan Shaqiri, Zeki Amdouni and Nico Elvedi were all on target at Swissporarena in Lucerne as Murat Yakin's men eased to a convincing warm-up win.
Switzerland continue their preparations for the Euros with their next friendly against Austria, who battled to a 2-1 victory over Serbia in Vienna.
Christoph Baumgartner scored one and assisted another for Patrick Wimmer before Strahinja Pavlovic pulled one back for Dragan Stojkovic's side.
Serbia open their Euro 2024 campaign against England on June 16 before meeting Slovenia, who were triumphant earlier in a day littered by international action.
Armenia's Varazdat Haroyan levelled after Jan Mlakar's early opener for Slovenia before veteran Josip Ilicic snatched a 2-1 victory for England's group opponents.
In the least entertaining game of the midweek action, Romania and Bulgaria shared a goalless draw in Bucharest.
Italy 0-0 Turkey: Injury worries mount for Azzurri in pre-Euro 2024 stalemate
Italy extended their unbeaten run with a frustrating 0-0 draw against Turkiye on Tuesday, though potentially suffered another injury blow in the process.
Luca Pellegrini was taken off in the 68th minute and was seen on the bench with an icepack strapped to his knee, following Francesco Acerbi and Giorgio Scalvini's withdrawals from the squad in the last week.
In the first of their two warm-ups ahead of Euro 2024, Italy came closest to breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when Bryan Cristante thumped a header against the post.
Guglielmo Vicario denied Merih Demiral on the half-volley in a bright second half for Turkiye, while Giacomo Raspadori's tame shot was held by Altay Bayindir in the final seconds as both sides failed to find a way through.
Data Debrief: Not good signs for the reigning Euros champions
Italy are not favourites going into their title defence in Germany later this month, and they struggled to show much attacking flair.
Although the Azzurri extended their unbeaten run over Turkey to 14 games, they created an expected goals (xG) of just 0.67, hitting the target with two of their 11 shots.
Portugal 4-2 Finland: Fernandes double eases hosts to Euro 2024 warm-up triumph
Portugal ramped up their Euro 2024 preparations as Bruno Fernandes was twice on target to stave off a late Finland fightback in Tuesday's 4-2 friendly victory.
Roberto Martinez's side were on course for a routine win in their first of three warm-up matches as captain Ruben Dias and Diogo Jota – the latter from the penalty spot – scored in the first half on Tuesday.
Fernandes furthered the hosts' lead after the break at Jose Alvalade Stadium, only for Finland to threaten a comeback just two weeks before Portugal's Euros opener against Czech Republic.
Former Norwich City forward Teemu Pukki twice fired past Jose Sa late on, though his efforts were not enough to salvage an unlikely draw after Fernandes made sure of victory six minutes from time.
Data Debrief: Dominant Portugal avoid late scare
Although Pukki's two strikes within five minutes offered Portugal a little to think about, Martinez's hosts were good value for their win – accumulating 3.05 expected goals to Finland's 0.96
Alongside Fernandes' heroics, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Vitinha was the star of the show in midfield, creating a game-leading five chances, three more than the entire Finland team managed all game.
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