Huddlestone hails 'hard-working' Spurs

Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone believes his side's ability to play dirty was key to their success last season. Spurs finished fourth in the Premier League last term and qualified for next year's UEFA Champions League, pipping Manchester City to the post.Manager Harry Redknapp has claimed the North London outfit now have what it takes to challenge for the title, after matching the style of previous campaigns with substance.Huddlestone, who made 33 top-flight appearances last season, says an improved work ethic is the reason for Spurs' success."We coped with the dirty side of the game a lot better last year - stuff like working extremely hard for 90 minutes, getting your tackles in, chasing lost causes," he said in The Sun."It got us a lot of results whereas before wins might have been draws and draws may have been losses."There have been a few times when we won ugly but you have to remember the club's philosophy of good players playing in the so-called right way."Maybe in previous years that approach has been a millstone around our necks, we have overplayed. Last season we seemed to get the balance right and maybe that was because we had Peter Crouch as an option."Before he arrived, we had three or four smaller strikers and overplayed a bit going forward - that's when you get caught out."On Tottenham's potential to cut it at the very top, Huddlestone added: "Teams who have just been promoted and those classed as the lower sides see Tottenham as a massive scalp in the same way as Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City."If teams come to White Hart Lane and try to play football, like Chelsea did, then we can match them."

Source: Team_Talk