Super Jan, but not so super Feb!

It is perhaps lucky that "Super" Jan Vertonghen missed our defeat at Stamford bridge on Wednesday night. I thought he was being rested, but it seems that it was one of those occasions when we were kept in the dark regarding a hip injury which will need late assessment to see if Jan can play against Arsenal tomorrow (Saturday 2nd March).

The fact that Jan did not suffer what were generally poor performance grades in that defeat means that "Super" Jan was head and shoulders above the rest of the team in what was not such a super February. Yes, we have retained 3rd place, but the gap between us and our pursuers has narrowed after two consecutive defeats (to Burnley and Chelsea) at the end of a month in which we only played five games. That's because we gave up our involvement in the domestic cup competitions in January. Next month, partly for the same reason, we will only have four games. Three of those will be in the first week (Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Southampton), and then we will have a three week break before travelling to Anfield on the last day of the month. The FA Cup quarter-finals, which feature Crystal Palace, who we were scheduled to play on 16th/17th March, and the first International break of the year give us that break.

Jan Vertonghen was given the highest grade of any player this season (9.2) for his supreme performance against Dortmund. He played superbly at left back and scored one of our three goals which gave us one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals. That was Jan's first goal since at Newcastle on the opening day of the season. That tie is not over yet, but if we score one goal in Germany the home side will need five to beat us. Surely that will not happen!

Had he not missed the Chelsea game, Jan would have been one of the players who did start all five games in February. As it is five were chosen to start each game. They were Lloris, Son, Winks, Sissoko and Eriksen. "Sonny" scored three of our eight goals this month. Another notable contributor was Davinson Sanchez with his first club goal - against Leicester. Son was named Premier League player of the year in the London Football awards announced this week. Mauricio Pochettino won the manager of the year award. These awards relate to the 2018/19 season.

It is of course great to see Harry Kane return, and he marked that with a good goal at Burnley last Saturday in a morale-sapping 2-1 defeat that even led Mauricio Pochettino to face disciplinary action following his on-field challenge of referee Mike Dean.

Eric Dier made only one substitute appearance this month and has had made just four appearances in our last 19 games, having suffered from appendicitis, a virus or two and now tonsilitis! Dele Alli has now missed our last 8 games, and his return cannot come quickly enough. It won't be against Arsenal though. a win against the old enemy would calm our nerves about at least holding onto third place in the Premier League run-in.

· Review the 2018-19 Premier League season here

Don't forget to check out the players' current figures re. appearances, cards, goals scored and accumulated ratings to date at the bottom of this page.

...if you want to read reports of the matches played during this season, then links are on the Spurs Odyssey Fixtures/Reports page here. By working your way back through the previous month's figures, you can review the performances over more than 18 years!