Tottenham striker Harry Kane said a team meeting helped them get back on track with a narrow win at Fulham.
The England captain scored the only goal with a sweet strike into the bottom corner from just outside the box, to equal Jimmy Greaves’ record as Spurs’ all-time top scorer with 266 goals.
It was only Spurs’ second Premier League win in six games and came after back-to-back losses against Arsenal and Manchester City.
They are back to within three points of the Champions League places after only a second league clean sheet since October.
“We are a little bit behind where we want to be but tonight was important,” said Kane, who played despite having an illness.
“We had a good talk amongst ourselves, just to get back to what we are good at, clean sheets, being compact and hard to break down. Then we know we will have a chance to score and have players who can do that.
“It was a really important win for us, especially after the last couple of games, to get back to winning ways.”
Boss Antonio Conte, whose future is uncertain, said: “I had a good answer from my players. I asked them for the solidity of last season and the will and desire to fight and to be resilient.
“We showed when you play as a team it is difficult to play against us. Today has to be a starting point for us to give everything then we will see what happens at the end.”
Kane could have broken the record in the second half but his close-range header was tipped over well by Bernd Leno.
Fulham had plenty of chances to score before Kane’s opener with Hugo Lloris keeping out Bobby Decordova-Reid’s long-range drive and Harrison Reed’s snap-shot.
But this is now a second defeat in a row and a missed chance to go above Spurs into fifth place.
The game had kicked off 18 minutes late following travel problems for fans in the area and then issues with referee Paul Tierney’s communication devices.
