Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi is not getting carried away despite his side taking a major step towards Premier League safety with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
Spurs put in their best performance of the season to claim three crucial points at Villa Park, thanks to first-half goals from Conor Gallagher and Richarlison.
They look a different side under De Zerbi, registering back-to-back league victories for the first time since August, and are now favourites to beat the drop.
The north London club leapfrogged West Ham in the table and with a home game to come against Leeds, after the Hammers host Arsenal, their position could be even rosier next week.
But the Italian has called for balance, with three games to go.
“I am very happy for the performance, we won a great game against a great Aston Villa,” the Italian said.
“They had to play Thursday, a very important game for them, but this is always very tough playing against (Unai) Emery, against this Villa in this stadium.
“For that I am really pleased, it was a good performance with the ball, without the ball. Without the ball we showed great courage and we showed great qualities.
“I am happy for this type of performance more than three points. We are one point more than West Ham but the most important thing is to play a great game and believe more and more in ourselves and believe in our qualities.
“The crucial thing now is keeping our head of what was the situation before the Wolverhampton game. This is the most important memory to keep in our head.
“In football it is very easy to change, if you lose, you are stupid. If you win, you are a champion.
“No, you have to find a balance. We have to work this week because Leeds is a very tough game.
“We have to remember in ourselves what we have done in the past.”
Spurs were fortunate to come up against a Villa side who produced their worst display of the season, with their attention clearly on Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest.
Indeed, Villa were so bad they scored in the sixth minute of time added on with their only effort on target, with Emiliano Buendia heading home.
Villa boss Emery defended his team selection, having made seven changes from the side that lost at Forest on Thursday.
“We lost on Thursday and we lost last week against Fulham, different players, different matches,” he said.
“We analysed a lot of things about the players playing in the starting XI. Maybe it is better to play with the same players but we lost (the last two matches).
“Before the match I knew my challenge, it was to win with some changes, but I believe in the players.
“If supporters or the media don’t believe in some of players…but (it) is not different when we are losing. I made changes against Sunderland but you were not asking, because we won.
“But I accept some criticism.”
Asked if he was disappointed with some of the performances of his players, Emery added: “No. Because those same players three months ago were winning a lot of matches in a row.
“Of course sometimes they don’t have the performance with individual quality. But I am so proud of them, so, so proud of them, how we are doing the season.”
