Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank does not consider his team to be title contenders despite a 3-0 victory at Everton lifting them into third.
Two first-half headers from Micky van der Ven were followed by Pape Sarr also nodding home late on to make it 13 points from a possible 15 away from home.
They sit just five points behind leaders and north London rivals Arsenal and November could be a transformative month for them as they face fellow top-four contenders Chelsea and Manchester United – both below them in the table – before heading to the Emirates Stadium.
But when asked whether Spurs could enter the title race Frank said: “No, I think there are a few teams ahead of us.”
However, if they can improve their home form while continuing to eke out wins on the road without necessarily playing well they could make life uncomfortable for their rivals.
Van der Ven’s prowess at set-pieces will certainly help in that regard, as he took his tally to five for the season.
“Top scorer? Not bad. I said you are a centre-back, you need to score more, and he attacked the ball and got in there where it hurts,” added Frank.
“I think he is really growing and taking some big steps, taking more leadership, defending better and better, using his pace and more clever positions than at the start of the season.”
Everton fans were hugely aggrieved Jake O’Brien’s potential equaliser was ruled out after VAR spotted Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish in offside positions either side of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario but manager David Moyes had no complaints.
“I think the goal we got chalked off for offside was the correct decision,” he said.
“At the time from the touchline it looked okay but I have just looked at it and I can’t argue with it.”
Everton conceded their first goals of the season from corners and that frustrated Moyes more than the performance.
“We actually played well. We have been undone by set-pieces, we are not happy about it but the other parts of the game there were lots of good things,” he added.
“The players will always take responsibility and I will, we have been very good at set-pieces in the main but Thomas’ teams have always been good. They got their head on them and we didn’t.
“I am disappointed, I really am. There are a couple of things we could have done better.”
