Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino says no one outside of the club believed they could be title challengers this season.
Spurs moved up to second in the Premier League after a 1-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday, four points behind leaders Liverpool, thanks to Son Heung-min's late goal.
They could drop back, however, if Manchester City beat Arsenal and the Reds win at West Ham on Monday.
But Tottenham's position is still impressive against the back drop of a crippling injury list, uncertainty over their new stadium and two successive transfer windows without signing anyone.
Our last three @premierleague games:
😅 Fulham⏱️ 90' (1-2)
😅 Watford⏱️ 87' (2-1)
😅 Newcastle ⏱️ 83' (1-0)
Never. Give. Up. #COYS pic.twitter.com/x3qRZx4xvv
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 2, 2019
If people on the outside did not have faith, then Pochettino did.
"It's about now praising the squad, the players, to be in the position we are in the Premier League, no one believed at the beginning of the season that this squad was capable of being there," he said.
"Because of our belief, how hard we work, our mentality and everything, we are there.
"We don't need to be in some position like today to convince ourselves about our capacity, our potential or possibility to win. We always believe in ourselves.
"We are there because we believe in ourselves. Then it's if we are capable to fight until the end, to be close and fight until the end to go close to our opponent to be champions.
"Today, we are there because we deserve to be there. We will see what happens in the future."
It will take some effort for Tottenham to claim a maiden Premier League title given the fact they have lost six games so far.
But they have got themselves into second by winning the rest, breaking the Premier League record for most consecutive games without a draw, now standing at 29 matches going back to last season.
"It's easy to praise the mentality of the team. In some parts of course we are showing great mentality," Pochettino added.
"But in the end to win the games, sometimes you need some luck, some coincidence that happens in football, some situations, for me the most important thing is the team in a great level of belief, character and mentality, with a lot of circumstance we are again showing that we can win in any stadium and against any club. That is most important."
It looked like a draw might be on the cards as Spurs struggled to break down a resilient Newcastle side.
But Son struck late on to end the Magpies' three-game unbeaten run.
Defender DeAndre Yedlin told the club's official website: "I thought the team performed well and we held our own, but we were unlucky at the end there.
"But credit to the team – I thought we did pretty well in that game.
"There were positives. Not only did we defend well, but we also had our chances, and that's promising. Everybody is disappointed in there.
"But I think that's a good sign – you'd don't want to be coming here losing, and then be like, 'Whatever'. It's a good sign that people are upset. We just have to keep pushing now."
