Antonio Conte insists Tottenham will treat their final nine Premier League games as ‘Cup finals’

Antonio Conte admits Arsenal have the advantage in the race for the top four but warned Tottenham are ready to fight them all the way.

Spurs, who have had an inconsistent 2022, beat West Ham to secure successive Premier League wins for the first time since early December and move up to fifth.

A Kurt Zouma own goal and two Heung Min-Son strikes – all set up by Harry Kane – lifted Conte’s side to within three points of their north London rivals Arsenal.

Arsenal also have a game in hand and a date for two sides’ second league meeting of the season has yet to be confirmed.

Conte said: ‘The only way to put pressure on Arsenal is to get three points, to win. There are nine games to go and for us every game has to be a final.

‘I like to fight to be competitive, to have the possibility to fight and then you know very well only one team is able to win but I think my past gives me a chance.’

Conte believes Arteta’s longer spell in charge of Arsenal also contributes to them having the edge but has taken huge encouragement from the strides Spurs have made since his November arrival.

He said: ‘In five months we did a fantastic job with these players and now I think that we reduced the gap with many teams in England.

Tottenham beat West Ham United 3-1 in a heated London derby on Sunday afternoon (above)

Antonio Conte’s side picked up back-to-back wins for the first time since December

‘One example – two months ago we played against Chelsea three times and we lost three games. It was right to lose these three games because Chelsea showed to be better than us in every aspect.

‘After two months now I would like to have another chance to see what is our level and I’m sure now our level has improved a lot and I’m sure that Chelsea would have to fight much more to win against us than before.

‘With Tottenham, for sure I have taken in this moment a level lower than the top team that there are in this league but I’m enjoying a lot to see the improvement and today I said I want to enjoy seeing you play football and now I am seeing we are a really good team.

‘Now I am ready to play every game and against every opponent and I’m sure that today it is very difficult to play against us.’

With Kane setting up Son twice, the duo have now combined for 39 Premier League goals extending their record partnership.

Conte hailed Kane as ‘two players in one because he can be a No.10 or can be a No.9’ and praised ‘top player’ Son for his selflessness and thinking of the team rather than just his own contribution.

Antonio Conte’s side are now currently sitting three points behind London rivals Arsenal

 Conte admits Arsenal have the advantage four but warned Spurs are ready to fight them

West Ham, who pulled the score back to 2-1 when Said Benrahma struck in the first half, were unable to replicate the heights they hit in their memorable, extra-time Europa League last-16 win over Sevilla on Thursday.

Moyes said: It’s disappointing but they’ve had a great week and put in brilliant efforts all week so I can’t complain. A derby after 120 minutes, you could not have picked a worst game after the week we’ve had.

‘If we want to be a big club and we want to play in Europe we have to get used to it.

‘We showed that we can do that against Spurs. We didn’t moan or cave in at any time.

‘Now I want us to be in European positions. We have to want it again. So we have Lyon [in the quarter-finals] in between our league games. We will have to get everybody fresh, we will prepare well and we will have to go again..’