Super-fit Spurs eager to maintain edge

Tottenham Hotspur are renowned as one of the fittest teams in the Premier League – but that has not come without hard work and sacrifice.

As the Spurs  players gradually to pre-season training, they are faced with a punishing schedule in order to get them up to speed in time for the new campaign.

Tottenham finished second last season and face Newcastle United on the opening day next month but before that, they head to the USA for the International Champions Cup.

And Mauricio Pochettino’s assistant manager Jesus Perez believes it is no fluke that Spurs’ players can outlast opponents, saying they start their pre-season fitness regimes as soon as the previous summer finishes.

“Before the end of last season, we had a meeting with each player and presented off-season programmes and personal targets,” he said.

“It’s been a three-year process educating them and they know themselves better than anyone. I’m pretty sure they will respect those programmes and do even more, because they all want to get better and better.

“We are at a level where the players are not just fighting to play but fighting to match previous performances. We’re in a good place to work with them.”