Victor Wanyama says he and fellow Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele relish doing the "dirty" work for Mauricio Pochettino's side.
Spurs strengthened their grip on second place in the Premier League table at the weekend after edging past Middlesbrough courtesy of a 1-0 scoreline.
Harry Kane's late penalty was enough to secure all three points against Aitor Karanka's side, who proved to be a difficult nut to crack.
Tottenham's defence clocked up their 11th clean sheet of the Premier League season with Wanyama and Dembele providing an impressive shield in front of the back four.
The duo's fledgling partnership has gone from strength to strength in recent weeks and Wanyama is adamant their understanding is crucial.
"Playing alongside Mousa is always good. Every time I play with him I enjoy it," Wanyama told Tottenham's official website.
"We understand eachother and we always want to win the ball back as quickly as possible.
"We also enjoy doing the dirty bit of the game - it's part of our game.
"We are a little bit similar and we just click together. Hopefully we can do that more and it can get us somewhere nice," he added.
Spurs are nine points adrift of pacesetters Chelsea and appear set to be the Blues' closest challengers during the Premier League run in.
Pochettino has urged his players to believe Antonio Conte's side can be caught and Wanyama is firmly focused on maintaining momentum during the run in.
"It was an important win against a tough side [Middlesbrough]. These teams are fighting for their lives at the moment and it’s difficult to win these games.
"But if we can continue getting the wins, it will get us to a good place so hopefully we’ll continue and see where we end up," Wanyama added.
The north Londoners travel to Liverpool next weekend and will open up a seven-point lead over Jurgen Klopp's side with victory at Anfield.
