Harry Winks says Hugo Lloris flare-up with Heung-min Son shows Tottenham are not ‘too nice’

Harry Winks insists Tottenham are not “too nice” and revealed they were fired up for last night’s win over Everton following a frank exchange of views after the defeat to Sheffield United.

What both sides lacked in quality, Spurs made up for in needle, and Jose Mourinho said he was delighted with their “fight” in a dour 1-0 win, fittingly decided by Michael Keane’s first-half own goal.

The Spurs manager afterwards described a half-time altercation between Hugo Lloris and Heung-min Son as “beautiful” and said it was a good example of the character and mentality his players need to show. “A team of good boys, a team of nice boys only can win the Fair Play Cup,” he said.

Winks, who was steady on his return to the Spurs midfield, revealed the squad spoke their minds at a team meeting in the aftermath of the dismal 3-1 loss at Bramall Lane on Thursday.

“I wouldn’t say we’re too nice,” said the England player. “We’ve been on the receiving end of each other’s critiques before after some bad defeats.

“In games when we haven’t been right, we’ve told each other. The game against Sheffield wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t a good game to be involved in and we had some words to say to each other. The most important thing we can do is show it on the pitch. We can say stuff in the changing room and in team meetings, but we have to show it on the pitch and I think last night was a step in the right direction.”

Winks was among those to separate Lloris and Son at the interval, but Mourinho revealed they had reconciled in the dressing room and the pair celebrated together at the final whistle.

“We spoke a lot after the game against Sheffield,” Mourinho said. “One of the things we spoke was to have critical sense, to be open with each other, to be demanding with each other, to don’t accept just the attitude, don’t be passive in relation to the others. I think [the incident] was a consequence of it.”

Spurs remain seven points from a potential Champions League place and visit struggling Bournemouth on Thursday before the visit of Arsenal on Sunday.

Skipper Lloris said it was important to show the squad still believes, but conceded that their target is now a Europa League spot.

“It was important to bounce back to show there’s still some hope until the end of the season,” he said.