Spurs travel to rivals Arsenal in Wednesday's (15.01.25) Premier League fixture and the Australian coach knows that there is a lot more than three points at stake when the two sides meet.

Postecoglou told TNT Sports: "If there’s territory involved that usually gives it an extra bit of spice. There’s definitely territory involved because there’s a piece of turf that people want to own.

"What I’ve never done is dismiss it as, ‘It’s just another game’, because it’s not, that’s the reality of it.

"We’re all sort of people who are still very much in our own communities and when you’re walking that’s the first thing people say to you so you know the significance of the game.

"There’s no point me going in there and saying, ‘Boys just treat this like any other game’, because it’s not.

"There is a little bit more of an emotional presence in terms of you want the players to understand the ramifications of both the good and the bad, but also prepare themselves for the intensity, the tempo, the passion that exists for this fixture."

Spurs have been dogged by injury problems this season and Postecoglou acknowledged that his high-tempo football could be to blame.

The manager said: "The way we play is on the edge and I've purposefully done it that way because I’m a really big believer that if we’re going to achieve what I want us to achieve, we’ve got to do things a bit differently.

"There’s no point in us trying to be like anybody else because in that race there are clubs that are years ahead of us. We’ve got to try and do things a little bit differently but there’s risk in that."