Harry Kane insists Tottenham have the mental strength to avoid a repeat of last season’s dramatic late stumble.
Tottenham face a stern test of their spirit when they travel to Crystal Palace on Wednesday – four days after they were beaten 4-2 by Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final.
Chelsea are currently four points ahead of second-placed Spurs in the league, with the north Londoners needing to show they have absorbed the lessons of last season.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were strong contenders for the title but collected only two points from their final four games, as Leicester finished top and Arsenal second.
Kane said: “I think we have learned from last year. Hopefully, the semi-final was just a blip in what has been a great season so far. Palace is a tough game, they have been in great form recently and it won’t be easy, but we will fight until the end.
“Chelsea will be buzzing from the semi-final but it doesn’t always mean you will win every other game you play. We just have to win our games. We wanted to win the semi-final to keep our momentum going and we weren’t really too focused on Chelsea.
“I think Chelsea have respect for us. Look at the way we played at Wembley: for large parts of the game, we were the better team. They know we are going to play like that for the rest of the season and hopefully win games.
"Chelsea know they still have a job to do in the league, but so have we.”
If Chelsea beat Southampton on Tuesday, Tottenham will be seven points adrift when they kick-off at Selhurst Park.
Chelsea look to have the easier run-in, too. While Spurs face both Manchester United and Arsenal before the end of the campaign, Antonio Conte’s team only game against one of the current top six is away at Everton - and four of their remaining six matches are at Stamford Bridge.
Kane added: “People will be looking at us now, waiting to see what will happen and wondering if the momentum has stopped a bit, but we are focused.
"We want to finish strongly in the league and learn from what happened last year. The only way we can do that is by winning on Wednesday. There is not long left in the season and we have to give it everything.”
