Spurs need Champions League place, says Walker

Tottenham defender Kyle Walker has confessed the club should have finished third last season and secured a Champions League place.

The 22 year-old right-back was a mainstay in the Tottenham defence last season, earning rave reviews for his form which subsequently led to him clinching the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

Despite finding themselves in the top three for the majority of the campaign, a dip in form ultimately cost Spurs Champions League football, something which Walker doesn’t look back on with any fondness.

“Of course we did well to come fourth but I was left with mixed feelings,” he told the Daily Mirror.

“We were 13 points clear of Arsenal at one stage and so we should’ve been third.

“I’ve got no complaints, nor with Chelsea taking our place because they won the Champions League. It’s the rules of the game. It’s life. You have to get on with it, deal with it – and put it right this year.”

It has already been a summer of major upheaval at Tottenham, with the club recently unveiling their new-look training ground, while appointing new boss Andre Villas-Boas.

Walker believes that all these positive changes mean the need for Champions League football is now even greater than before.

He continued: “The new training ground is amazing. It’s only going to make people want to go into training, stay behind and do that extra work. It’s all positive this season.

“We just have to build on those positives, show people what we can do and hopefully finish where we should be finishing.

“And that’s a Champions League position, 100 percent. That’s got to be the minimum requirement for Tottenham now.

“When I signed, that’s what the club was searching for. They got it and won’t settle for anything less now. I don’t settle for second best.”