Monaco v Tottenham: Alderweireld demands even more after City thrashing

Tottenham can have “a fantastic season” if they produce an even better performance against Monaco than they did in the 4-1 thrashing of Manchester City, according to Toby Alderweireld.

Spurs responded to their League Cup defeat to rivals Arsenal with a comprehensive win over Manuel Pellegrini’s side on Saturday – their fourth in five matches in all competitions.

And Alderweireld, who scored the second against City, is confident they can enjoy a successful campaign as long as they continue to improve.

“It’s just a win, we can enjoy it, then we have to work hard again, improve every day and we can have a fantastic season,” he told Spurs TV.

“We don’t have to dream too much, we stay with two feet on the ground, work hard and we know we have a young, talented group of players.

“If we work hard and we do everything we have to do then we have the quality to make the difference.”

Free-scoring Monaco, by contrast, have endured far more inconsistent form since their opening Europa League draw with Anderlecht.

Leonardo Jardim’s side have scored eight times in three games but have only managed one victory in that time and were held to a 3-3 draw by Guingamp at the weekend.

Jardim has called on his side to sharpen up their defensive record when Spurs visit on Thursday, saying: “Right now, my team scores more but concedes more, too. Collectively, we haven’t been able to keep the lead on three occasions.

“The draw isn’t a bad result but our ambition is always to win.”

Monaco have been boosted by Jeremy Toulalan’s return to training, while Joao Moutinho and Fabio Coentrao have a chance of being fit for the matchday squad. Almamy Toure (thigh) is likely to be sidelined.

Spurs could welcome back Mousa Dembele and Ryan Mason for the trip to the Principality, meanwhile, though the game will likely come too soon for Nabil Bentaleb (foot).

Monaco have won six of their 12 meetings with English clubs and defeated Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League last season, despite a 2-0 loss at home.

Spurs, meanwhile, have only scored once in three visits to French sides and have failed to win any of those games, while the most recent meeting between the sides saw Monaco triumph 5-2 in a pre-season friendly in August 2013.