Tottenham's top goalscorer Brennan Johnson netted his 17th of the season on Thursday night in the Europa League semi-final first leg win over Bodo/Glimt and now he's determined to earn Sunday's derby bragging rights vs West Ham
Brennan Johnson insists Tottenham are fired up to face West Ham - because victory would set the tone for next week's crunch Europa League semi-final second leg against Bodo/Glimt.
Spurs now have one foot in Bilbao as they'll take a precious two-goal lead to the Arctic Circle. But Johnson, who headed home the opener inside 40 seconds to stun the Norwegians, is determined to build upon Thursday's success by inflicting further misery upon their struggling London rivals.
He said ahead of today's trip across the capital: "It could be massive, it's a big game so for us, it's the most important game. Momentum is such a big thing in football, we're looking to get as much momentum going as we can before next week.
"It's been tough because the Premier League results have not been great and that's something that we're all aware of. It's a tough switch, we wish we could just roll into these big European games having won matches in the Premier League but unfortunately it just hasn't been like that this season."
Tottenham savaged 10-man West Ham in a brutal 4-1 beatdown on home soil back in October. However, Spurs have still lost three more top-flight matches (19) than the crisis-hit Hammers (16) this season and defeat to Graham Potter's side would see Tottenham plummet to 17th place in the table.
Still, Johnson claims Thursday's rip-roaring display against Bodo/Glimt was living proof the dressing room still has total faith in under-fire boss Ange Postecoglou. He said confidently when asked if the Aussie still has the backing of his squad: "For sure, that's never been in question.
"Games like Thursday hopefully show that all the lads listen to everything that he says and at the end of the day, especially in the Europa League, the game plans have come off perfectly as you also saw in Frankfurt. Hopefully we can do that again next week and get to the final."
Back-post merchant Johnson is Tottenham's top-goalscorer this season having found the net an impressive 17 times in all competitions. That's more than he's managed in each of his last two seasons combined.
And the last time Spurs netted inside the opening minute of a European match - December 1971 against Rapid Bucharest - they went on to lift the trophy (UEFA Cup).
Johnson revealed his father David, who was a prolific forward for Ipswich and Nottingham Forest after coming through the ranks at Manchester United, serves as his greatest source of inspiration.
The 23-year-old said: "I want to make him and the whole family proud. It's something I always want to do whenever I step onto the pitch and I feel that energy with me, I feel the team's energy with me and yeah, scoring that many goals this season is something I'm really happy with.
"It's a challenge that I set myself at the start of the season so I'm happy with how it's going, especially after scoring in a game like Thursday."