It’s been a strange old season for Spurs.

Finishing very narrowly as runners-up two seasons in a row and with an ever-maturing squad, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino will be disappointed with his side’s showing in the Premier League thus far.

With almost half the season gone they sit 18 points behind league leaders Manchester City, and despite currently holding down a Champions League place, they’re closer to the relegation zone than they are to unseasting Pep Guardiola’s runaways.

But impressive victories in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, as well as a general acceptance that, while in their adopted home of Wembley, things won’t quite feel ‘normal’ for them until their beloved White Hart lane re-opens, have given Spurs fans just enough not to feel too down-hearted about the way the season has gone.

Up next for them is a trip to the Etihad. Not quite the remedy they were asking for. But it just might prove to be.

Despite losing three out of their four fixtures against members of the ‘big six’, at home to Chelsea and away to Arsenal and Manchester United, Spurs have previous in stopping (to a certain degree) the runaway would-be champions.

Last season they were the ones who ended Chelsea’s 13-match winning streak, and Danny Rose has admitted that he would love to repeat the feat again, this time to end Man City’s now record-breaking 15-match run.

“We’ll go there and relish it,” said the England full-back.

“We were the first ones to beat City last season and we disrupted Chelsea’s unbeaten run.

“It’s another challenge we all look forward to.”

Following the ‘milk-gate’ tunnel clash between City and United players which allegedly began when music blared loudly from the City dressing room, Pochettino has risked a similar situation by promising that should his Spurs side win later today, he’ll have no problem cranking up the music himself.

“It’s normal, if you lose the game, you are not going to put music on,” he said.

“You are going to the changing room, and your shower, and you want to go quick back. But when they are winning, it’s normal they put on music in the changing room.

“I wish that we can have loud music tomorrow.

“But I am never [going to complain] if another team celebrates because sometimes it’s good, when you lose, and you hear all that happens in another changing room, it’s good to feel the pain.”

Guardiola and Pochettino appear to have put their war of words from earlier in the season behind them, and should Spurs come out on top and crank the music up to full blast, hopefully Pep will see the funny side.