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• Ange Postecoglou: Performance against Arsenal more important to me than result

  Ange Postecoglou insists Tottenham’s performance at Arsenal and not the result will be the biggest measure of their progress under him.

  Spurs have enjoyed a flying start to life under the Australian and optimism is rife following last weekend’s dramatic victory over Sheffield United, which puts them joint-second alongside Liverpool and Sunday’s opponents Arsenal in the Premier League.

  Tottenham have not won in the league at the Emirates since 2010 and while Postecoglou understands the significance of the fixture, his yardstick for progress will be if his team produce his front-foot philosophy in a white hot atmosphere.

  Postecoglou said: “The supporters, irrespective of your past record, always see the next derby as the one they want to win and that doesn’t change.

  “From our perspective, it’s a great challenge for us as a football team that’s beginning on a journey and trying to have an identity on the way we play.

  “There’s no greater test than playing one of the top teams in the comp away from home, who also happens to be your biggest rival.

  “It’s a great test for us, a great challenge for us. We’ve got to go out there and see how we cope with all of that.

  “We’re five games in. I understand that for many people, they will see this as our first real test and I get that. It is pretty easy, you could almost write two stories now: if we are successful, great we’re on the right track. If we’re not, we’ve still got a long way to go.

  “For me, what is going to be more important is how much of our football I see in a big game like this. How much of us can I see against a top opponent?

  “That will give me the biggest indicator of where we’re at, but ultimately we’ll still be six games into a new cycle, a new group of players, a very young group of players.

  “Either way, irrespective of the outcome, I’d say the performance will be my biggest measure but knowing we have still got a long way to go.”

  Similarities can be drawn between the rebuilding job Postecoglou has been tasked with at Tottenham and the work achieved by Mikel Arteta during the past four years at Arsenal.

  There has been plenty of change on and off the pitch since Postecoglou was appointed by Spurs in June and this week saw Scott Munn finally begin his role as chief football officer.

  Chief scout Leonardo Gabbanini has also left the club, with Tottenham set to appoint a new technical director to run transfers following Fabio Paratici’s resignation as director of football in April.

  Postecoglou is used to sweeping changes upon arriving at a new club, and he insisted: “Normal for me. Wherever I have gone.

  “I’ve constantly said that if you want to change, you need to change. All these things happen, sometimes not sequential or all at the same time, but over the course of time you find we are heading off in a new direction and some people make their own decisions about whether they’re involved in that and other times we look for, or the club look to bring new people in.

  That’s the kind of position we’re in as a club. As I said, it wasn’t going to take one window for us to build the squad we wanted and it wasn’t going to take a couple of months to have the structure we wanted.

  “It will evolve over the next 12 months, couple of years I think you’ll find, and we will have a constant evolution of people and the way we play, the way we train and the environment itself.

  “All these kind of things are a natural consequence of the club deciding to change direction from last year.”

  Spurs will be without Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee), Giovani Lo Celso (quad), Bryan Gil (groin) and Ivan Perisic (knee) for Sunday’s derby.

• Cairo double sinks Dunbeholden, as Suriname's Robinhood takes pole position

  Shaquille Cairo scored a pair of goals to lead 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield winners Robinhood of Suriname to a 2-0 victory against Jamaican side Dunbeholden in Group B action of the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup at Sabina Park on Thursday.

  Robinhood now sit atop the group with six points after two games, while Dunbeholden have one point after three matches.

  Robinhood raced out to an early 1-0 lead in the 15th when they were able to take advantage of a defensive error from Dunbeholden. The home side failed to clear their lines adequately and a deflected ball up into the air right in front of goal was headed into net by Shaquille Cairo.

  Dunbeholden went right to work on finding an equalizer and Stephen Barnett looked poised to do it in the 25th, only for Robinhood goalkeeper Jonathan Fonkel to make a sensational stretch save.

  Odane Samuels was next to be turned away on a brilliant save by Jonathan Fonkel, this time on a shot from just a few yards out that the visiting shot-stopper somehow managed to parry to safety in the 34th.

  Robinhood absorbed Dunbeholden’s punches and then landed another big blow in the 55th when a cross from Tuur Don met the charging Cairo, who fired into net for a 2-0 Robinhood lead.

  The Robinhood defense took over after that, nailing things down to record the clean sheet victory.

• Borna Barisic: Mood at Rangers lifted by Real Betis victory

  Borna Barisic revealed Rangers’ Europa League victory over Real Betis had helped raise the spirits of a demoralised dressing room.

  Abdallah Sima’s second-half goal ensured Michael Beale’s men got off to a winning start in their group campaign and built on the league victory secured at St Johnstone the previous weekend.

  Barisic admitted the mood had been somewhat darker after the derby defeat to Celtic prior to the international break but hoped success in Europe could provide a springboard for better times ahead.

  The Croatian defender said: “These two wins are very big, very important. I felt like we were old Rangers I would say. We were in a good way.

  “I am very happy, people are happy and the dressing room is happy. It’s a very big victory. We deserved the three points, a very huge three points. Betis are a very good team but we played a good game. The crowd was with us during the game. They gave us energy. It’s a very good start to the group.”

  Asked what the mood in the Rangers squad had been like prior to this week, Barisic added: “We have not been happy. We have been very disappointed.

  “We felt that we did not play well in some games. We lost the derby game and it was a hard two weeks to be here to train (after that). I wasn’t there but people said to me and I know what that feeling is like.

  “Then we went to St Johnstone and won the game and now this game. So that’s why we feel much better now. But this is only one game. We need to continue like this, be positive and try to win all our games.”

  Rangers welcome Motherwell to Ibrox on Sunday and Barisic acknowledged the need to keep building momentum.

  He added: “This can be a turning point but it always depends on us. It’s an important win but it’s only one game. We just need to continue like this. There are games every three or four days so the schedule is very busy.

  “It gives us confidence. This game shows we can compete with very good teams. Betis is a good team who finished sixth last season in the Spanish league and that shows they have quality. They came here as the most expensive team in our group – I cannot say the best – and we took the three points. So it’s the perfect start for the Europa League.”

  Rabbi Matondo revealed it was Beale’s half-time team talk that had inspired Rangers’ stirring second-half performance after a flat opening period.

  The forward said: “The manager got us going (at half-time). He wasn’t too pleased with certain aspects of our game and we had to up it in the second half and I felt that we did that. We had to dig in at times but ultimately I believe we deserved the win.”

  The Welsh international conceded he should have given the team an early lead after he fastened on to Kemar Roofe’s long ball only to shoot straight at Betis goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

  He added: “One hundred per cent I should have scored. I think I snatched at it a bit and on another day it would have been a goal. That’s something I’ll look at again and see what I could have done better at the time.”