Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has reiterated his stance that he "couldn't care less" about the race for fourth after his side's 3-1 success over Nottingham Forest in North London.
Thanks to Brentford's remarkable fightback in a 3-3 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday, Tottenham knew that victory over Nuno Espirito Santo's side would take them back above the desired dotted line on goal difference.
Spurs' bid to leapfrog Villa in the standings initially started well, as Murillo diverted Timo Werner's cross into his own net, not long after the Brazilian had almost caught Guglielmo Vicario out with an astonishing strike inside his own half.
Tottenham would be caught cold defensively before the break, though, as Chris Wood swept home the visitors' equaliser, but a cracking strike from Micky van de Ven restored Spurs' lead seven minutes into the second period.
On a day for the Lilywhites defenders, Pedro Porro wrapped up Tottenham's triumph with a sweetly-struck effort of his own across Matz Sels's goal, as Tottenham moved onto 60 points for the season to take control of the race for Champions League football.
Postecoglou focused on process rather than outcome
The Lilywhites also have a game in hand on Aston Villa, but Postecoglou has frequently insisted that he is unbothered whether his side finish in the top four and simply wants to see signs of improvement in his squad.
The former Celtic boss did not change his tune in Sunday's post-game press conference either, saying: "Couldn't care less about the race for fourth mate. What I care about is the way the team is progressing," as quoted by football.london.
"Pleased with today. It had a little bit of everything. We started the game well, not just the goal, I thought we controlled the game well. Then we conceded from a counter attack which was obviously disappointing.
"I thought we lost our way a little bit towards the back end of that first half, but a super reaction and the whole second half we were really dominant. We played some good football and scored a couple of good goals and created a couple more against a team that is desperate for points and fighting for everything. I guess every team is fighting for something and I thought we handled it really well."
There was a slightly sombre feel to Spurs' victory over the Tricky Trees, though, as it was announced that ex-Lilywhites defender Joe Kinnear - who made 258 appearances and won five trophies with the club - had died aged 77 on Sunday.
Postecoglou pays tribute to "distinguished" and "outstanding" Kinnear
The Republic of Ireland international also played 25 times for his country before a successful managerial career, most notably leading Wimbledon to a sixth-placed finish in the 1993-94 Premier League season.
Postecoglou revealed that he did not get the chance to meet Kinnear but nevertheless offered his condolences to the Irishman's loved ones, while affirming that he would "never be forgotten" at Tottenham.
"Yeah, it's very sad obviously. I just heard about it now. He's one of those figures who will always be remembered at this football club for his achievements. A distinguished manager and an outstanding player. A sad loss," Postecoglou added.
"Obviously all our love and support goes out to his family and friends. From what I understand, I never got the opportunity to meet him, but everyone speaks very highly of him as a person which is always the barometer around these things. A sad loss, particularly to those closest to him, but he'll never be forgotten at this football club."
Tottenham now have five full days to recover from this weekend's exploits before taking part in next Saturday's early kickoff against Newcastle United at St James' Park. body check tags ::
