Spurs "should be above" Europa Conference League as Dier hits out at standards

Eric Dier claimed Tottenham "should be above" the Europa Conference League after admitting the players have let their standards slip.

Tottenham defender Dier insists the club should be challenging for top class European football after falling into UEFA's third choice competition this season.

Two years ago, Tottenham reached the Champions League final and now they are playing European minnows like Slovenian outfit Mura and Dier says they must get back into the big time.

But Dier was also brutally honest about the players sharing their blame as he insists they should be taking responsibility rather than Nuno Espirito Santo for their start to the campaign.

Tottenham are back up to eighth after Dier revealed the players spoke among themselves about the need for a strong response against Aston Villa after their mauling in the North London derby at Arsenal the previous week.

Eric Dier has expressed his frustration

They hit back with a victory over Villa but Dier was brutally honest about the team's failings and also said they should be aiming a lot higher this season.

Dier said: "We need to be challenging for European football. There has to be European football in this stadium. With no disrespect to the Conference League, we need to be playing above that. That's what we should be striving towards.

"I think in football, most managers, especially the top managers, look at themselves first. As players, we have to do that as well. We had to look at ourselves first in the Arsenal game.

"That was one of our messages before the Villa game, we need to show a reaction for ourselves, we need to prove to ourselves that we're a lot better than what we showed last week.

"That's really important because this is something we're all working together as a group. That's everyone in the club. It's not just the manager, it's not just the players, it's everyone together.

"We all have to work, we have to improve as a group, reflect on things we can improve upon. Really try to push on and take the club back to where it needs to be."

Tottenham started brilliantly under Nuno with three straight wins, then had three defeats in the Premier League and won their seventh game of the campaign against Villa.

But Dier admitted that the storm clouds gathered over the club because the performances - particularly against Arsenal - were simply not good enough.

"I think it's the players who needed to show that reaction because, for me, it's up to us as players to perform," said Dier.

"There are some levels that you can't drop below and we definitely dropped below them against Arsenal and that has nothing to do with the manager.

The north Londoners struggled in the second half of last season

"But it's still early days, our performance against Villa was probably our best of the season and I think that shows a real reaction from the players."

Tottenham fans, however, always clamour for performances to match results and they demand stylish, attacking football. But Dier says results, particularly as Nuno settles into the job, are the No1 priority.

Dier added: "Results are always going to be the most important thing, for any team and whatever style you play, results are always going to be the most important thing and that won't change.

"We won't change. Obviously we want to be winning football matches and playing good football like we did against Villa.

"But as I said, that takes time and we're just at the beginning of a new phase, a new manager, it's still early and those things take time to implement and we're definitely working towards implementing that and getting the other side right as well."