Eric Dier is looking for Tottenham to build on a positive opening to the season after admitting that the club can be “a bit out of touch with reality sometimes”.
Despite having forced their way into Premier League title contention over recent years, Spurs have had a habit of stumbling out of the blocks.
That has left them playing catch-up in the battle for top-flight supremacy, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side giving themselves little margin for error.
There have been a few wobbles again this term, with three successive defeats suffered across all competitions at one stage in September, but they are now back on a three-match winning run in the league.
Dier’s first goal since April 2017 edged them past Cardiff in their most recent outing on Saturday, with the England international telling Spurs TV of the current mood in the camp: "At times things haven't felt very good at the beginning of this season.
"Maybe we're a bit out of touch with reality sometimes. We always want to do better. Overall, we've had a really positive start.
"We wanted to start well. In recent years it may be one of the criticisms that we haven't started so well.
"I think we can be happy where we are. We can always do better and now when we get back from international duty there's a chance for us to keep improving."
Victory over Cardiff at Wembley means that Tottenham have emerged victorious in six of their eight Premier League outings this season.
They are within touching distance of the early frontrunners, with Dier convinced that they are heading in the right direction.
He added on an outing against the Bluebirds which saw Spurs dominate possession and fire in 19 shots on goal: “I thought we controlled the game throughout, created a lot of chances and the only negative is that we’ve only come away with one goal, I feel like it should have been a lot more.
“It would have been really disappointing if we’d conceded a goal. They had a chance from a set-piece where I think I should have done better myself and a few half-chances, but nothing very clear. For the most part and overall, we can be happy.
“We’ve got the clean sheet, we’ve won and we can go into the international break feeling positive.”