Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld has insisted that he and his teammates will be "stronger" next season after their Premier League title bid collapsed in the closing stages of the campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino's side handed the trophy to Leicester City after drawing 2-2 with Chelsea at the start of the month.
They went on to lose their final two games of the campaign, eventually finishing third in the table, one point behind North London rivals Arsenal.
The final nail in the coffin was a season-ending 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United at St James' Park, but Alderweireld has drawn on the positives.
"Of course we were very disappointed because all of Tottenham wanted to get second you know but overall at the end we have to think we had a good season," Alderweireld told Sky Sports News. "I think it was our worst game of the season and we didn't want that to happen so like I said next season is a new season.
"We have got guaranteed Champions League football which we have not had for a couple of years so it is the next step for the club. That's important and next season we can come back stronger.
"We want to win it, and we will go for it. I think we now have a different mindset from the one we had at the beginning of this season. Then we were thinking the top four would be brilliant now we are thinking more than that, we want to go one better."
Tottenham won 19 of their 38 league games this season.
Danielle Joynson
