Son Heung-min eager for ‘inexperienced’ Spurs to test themselves against Arsenal

Son Heung-min has acknowledged Arsenal are one of the best teams in the world but is confident Tottenham will bounce back from their Newcastle humbling in Sunday’s north London derby.

Spurs enter the fixture after an untimely two-week break on the back of a painful 4-0 loss at St James’ Park.

Arsenal were also reeling a fortnight ago but have responded to their Champions League exit with impressive back-to-back wins to return to the Premier League summit.

This match begins a difficult final month of the campaign for Tottenham, with fixtures to come against Arsenal’s title challengers Liverpool and Manchester City as well as London rivals Chelsea.

But Spurs captain Son insisted: “I think it will be a good test for our team.

“Obviously we’re very young and we’re still a little bit inexperienced because we’re building a young team with new experiences.

“Some of the players are in their first season in the Premier League.

“So look, we can test ourselves against one of the biggest teams in Europe and the Premier League, but also in the world.

“I think it’s very important the way we play. Stick to our play, stick to our game. I think it’s a very, very good test.

“As I said, it’s against one of the best teams in the world so it’s perfect (for us). You want to always have good competition and you always want to face the best teams in the world.”

Tottenham will hope to raise their level in the coming weeks after taking points off Arsenal and Manchester City during the first half of the season.

Ange Postecoglou’s debut campaign in charge of Spurs has seen plenty of highs and the occasional low, with the 4-0 thrashing at Newcastle arguably the worst display of his reign.

It has increased the scrutiny on the visit of Arsenal with Tottenham eager to avoid back-to-back painful defeats, especially with a top-four finish now seemingly unlikely.

Son admitted: “It was an unacceptable result and unacceptable performance, as well from me.

“As a group, we’re talking a lot about this game and performance and everybody knows how to step up. They’ve all been playing long enough in the Premier League or for a professional team.

“So, they’re working really hard to bounce back. It will be a really good game to bounce back and obviously the motivation will be even higher than in other games.

“I think we’ve got to just work hard until the game and do our style of play. Then there’s no doubt we can bounce back.

“Obviously it’s a game everyone is looking forward to. It’s a big derby and we know what it means for the team, the club and also for the fans.”

Postecoglou urged Tottenham to double down on their attacking philosophy despite facing a team with the best defensive record in the league this season.

He said: “It’s just about making sure you embrace the challenge and try to tackle it in the way that got us into this position in the first place.

“From our perspective we’ve had some inconsistencies and challenges this year, but when we’ve played well we’ve played a certain way and gone about things in a certain way.

“There’s no point now when you get to the most important part of the year to shy away from that or change your approach.

“You’ve got to double down on it and focus on playing our football. That’s a great measure for us because otherwise you’ll never know where you’re short or whether you can be successful in doing it our way.”