Tottenham assistant manager Joe Jordan has highlighted the importance to the club of returning to the Champions League next season.
Spurs' European adventure last season resulted in a 42 per cent rise in profits and, Jordan claims, enabled them to hang on to their best players.
And he believes as well as the financial importance to the club, finishing in the top four of the Premier League will convince players like Gareth Bale and Luka Modric they can realise their ambitions by staying at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham take on Aston Villa on Monday night having won seven of their last eight league games, which has taken them to a position just below the top four.
And Jordan, who expects manager Harry Redknapp to take charge for the Villa match after his recovery from heart surgery, said: "The Champions League to the club is huge money.
"The rewards are there as well if we get back in the Champions League because we have the players, or we hope to have the players.
"Not only do we have them but we want to keep them and entice players in, because players want to play at that level because it is the top. Its what you are striving for.
"I'm sure the figures bear out how important it is financially to qualify for the Champions League. From the dressing room point of view, we're desperate to get into the Champions League as well.
"We thoroughly deserved getting there in the season that we did. We had some scary moments, some of it down to naivety, but we learnt from that.
"We became a better team and a better club for knowing how to handle it. We'll have a go at getting back in and we'll be challenging for a place in the Champions League."
Tottenham welcome back a former player in Aston Villa striker Darren Bent and Jordan has impressed upon his players the importance of keeping things tight in defence.
Spurs were lucky not to concede in their last fixture, away to Fulham, after handing their opponents a host of second-half chances when the north London side were 2-1 up.
"Villa is a tough game for us, they have a lot of pace up front," Jordan added. "The way they play they are very quick on the counter attack so we will be very conscious of that.
"We will certainly want to win it and we hope to have possession of the ball and be able to go about it.
"But at the same time in trying to get goals we have to make sure we don't leave ourselves open at the back, because they are a major danger there.
"They are a big club who have changed manager, they haven't lost many games this season so it will be a tough game for us."
Meanwhile Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has confirmed Barry Bannan will be in his squad to face Spurs despite the midfielder being charged with four motoring offences this week after a crash on the M1 last month.
The Scotland international has not appeared for Villa?s first team or his country since the incident and McLeish believes the 21-year old's brush with the law has been a wake-up call.
"You can't operate as a top-level player if that's your behaviour in this day and age," McLeish said.
"Nobody's going to be too upset if a player has a glass of beer but it has to be at the right times.
"This is top stuff in the Premier League and you have to be absolutely right, physically. It's a wake-up call for every young player.
"Whether Barry makes the 18-man squad, we'll wait and see because last time out in the win over Norwich, the players played a great game."
Jermaine Jenas is ineligible to face his parent club, while Villa are hopeful Gabriel Agbonlahor will shake off a minor hamstring strain.
Source: AFP
