Wednesday 18 December 2019 21:37, UK
Ledley King says confidence has been the key to Tottenham's return to form under new head coach Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino in north London when the Argentine was sacked after five years in charge.
Spurs have won four out of their last five Premier League fixtures since Mourinho's appointment, and King says that can be attributed to a return of confidence as well as "soaking up everything" the new boss says.
"Confidence plays a big part in sports, we know that, and Spurs seemed to be stuck in a bit of a rut at the moment in time when Mauricio went," King said at an awards ceremony for Tottenham's care leavers community programme, which helps young people find employment, develop life skills and boost well-being.
"The players are confident again. They're a good group of players and they just needed to get back to what they do best and so far under the new manager it seems to be working well.
"[Mourinho] is a winner," added King. "He's won everything. From my experience if someone like that comes into your club you listen, you take everything on board and you try to soak up as much as you can.
"You believe that if you do the right things you'll become a winner. I see the players doing that at the moment; they're soaking up everything, they're listening and so far the results have been good."
Up next for Spurs is the visit of Chelsea, and if the hosts win they will leapfrog Frank Lampard's side into fourth place. King says the race for top four will go "all the way", which makes this weekend's game, live on Super Sunday, an exciting prospect.
"The race for top four generally does go right down to the wire," said the Tottenham ambassador. "What's great is that four or five weeks ago it looked a long way off, finishing in the top four, but now it really is a realistic goal.
"Chelsea have obviously dipped over the few weeks while Spurs have really picked up some positive results and gained momentum.
"It puts the game right on a knife edge in terms of who's got the advantage at the moment. These are two good teams and I'm expecting another really good game."
