Beating Brighton 'a little bit of a deal breaker' if Spurs want top five spot

Tottenham boss Robert Vilahamn said Saturday's Women's Super League game against Brighton is a "deal breaker" if his side want to finish in the top five this season.

Spurs recorded their highest-ever WSL finish last season as they ended the campaign in sixth place under Vilahamn.

Tottenham are currently sixth in the WSL and play a Brighton side on Sunday who sit six points above them in fifth.

"In one way it is a little bit of a deal breaker if we want to compete in the top five or six," Vilahamn said.

"On the other hand there are many games left after this. Even is we lose tomorrow and we are consistent after the new year we can still push for the top five.

"They had a good start to the season so I don't think anyone expects us to go there and smash them. We know if we have a good day we have a good chance to beat them. We want to be higher than Brighton in the table. If we want to compete with them this season we need to have a good result in this game.

"It will be very good if we go into the winter break with four wins in a row but the main thing is we keep growing and developing and the result will come."

Here are more key lines from Vilahamn's news conference before Saturday's game (kick-off 17:30 GMT)

• Vilhaman is pleased with the character shown by his players in their three successive wins. "It's a big thing to show the character and potential of this group. A lot of people thought we couldn't defend but we showed we can do that."

• He added: "When you become consistent that is when you are a top team. This is a journey and to build a team that are going to be a top team you need to go through tough teams. The last three games have shown we can come back from tough games."

• Becky Spencer has returned to training but will "probably not be in the squad" to face Brighton.