Dembele excited about ‘power and quality’ of Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele has hailed the power of his team and is looking to hit the ground running ahead of the new season.

Spurs will travel to newly-promoted Newcastle United on the opening day of the 2017/18 campaign, before a home clash with champions Chelsea the following week.

Belgian Dembele has established himself as an energetic and bulldozing presence in the Spurs engine room, after signing from Fulham in 2012.

And the 28-year-old remains confident Mauricio Pochettino’s men can challenge anyone over 90 minutes, following their second-place finish in the Premier League last time around.

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“I’m happy with those fixtures,” he said. “It’s never easy at Newcastle and they will be motivated to start the season well, but that’s the case with everyone.

“To be honest, I don’t mind who we play first. I really believe in our own power and our own quality, like we showed last season and the season before.

“We know we can make it difficult for everyone and I’m sure that everyone has respect for us.

“We just want to start the season well. We’ll all look to have a good pre-season and we all know with this manager and staff we’ll be fit and our aim will be to start the season in the best way. That’s something we can be sure about.”