Toby Alderweireld believes Tottenham Hotspur can benefit from their enforced break from football.
The Premier League is set to return next week, with Aston Villa and Sheffield United, and Manchester City and Arsenal kicking things off again on June 17.
Spurs are then set to resume their season a couple of days later with a crucial game at home Manchester United, which could have a big say in their hopes of reaching the top four.
Jose Mourinho’s side currently sit eighth after enduring mixed fortunes throughout a season which has seen them struggle for form, with Mauricio Pochettino leaving the club back in November.
Injuries also took their toll, with Harry Kane’s absence in particular proving detrimental before the coronavirus pandemic brought the campaign to a halt.
But having had time to recover and get to grips with Mourinho’s tactics, Alderweireld believes Spurs will return ready to compete for a Champions League place.
"We had good time to change tactically,” Alderweireld told talkSPORT.
“Of course, the manager came in the middle of the season, so it was not easy to train tactics, but now we've had a chance to do it. We are in a really good position to compete again.”
On Spurs’ preparations, Alderweireld added: “I think we have prepared ourselves in the best way possible.
“People think because we’re in lockdown, we were on some sort of holiday, but we weren’t.
“Friday we went in lockdown and Saturday and Sunday we were at home – but on Monday we were straight into zoom sessions and all of the equipment was sent to us at home for our muscles.
“We got the training we needed to keep our tone in the muscles. We had GPS for the running in the park – not easy running, tough running.
“So when we got back to training it was not like a holiday. And when we trained, we trained very hard. Sometimes it’s harder to train one-on-one then with the whole team. I think we are ready to compete.”
Asked whether he felt the break had been like a pre-season, Alderweireld responded: “You cannot compare them. We didn’t have a holiday we just prepare and train by ourselves and we didn’t know when we were playing again.
“Mentally and physically we had to be ready were absolutely ready at all time.
“The Premier League could have said that it could be two to three weeks but we knew we had to be ready.
“We just had to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for when the time was right to go back again.”
