Tottenham will never become a successful side unless they improve defensively and stop conceding goals from pieces, according to former captain Graham Roberts.

Antonio Conte's collected a crucial three points in their pursuit of the top four against London rivals West Ham on Sunday but conceded another soft goal in the 3-1 victory over the Hammers.

What happened against West Ham?

With Arsenal strengthening their grip on fourth place after beating Aston Villa 28 hours earlier, Spurs knew that nothing less than a victory would be good enough at this stage of the campaign.

And that was clearly the message early on as his side flew out of the traps and found themselves two goals up inside 24 minutes after Harry Kane forced Kurt Zouma to inadvertently turn into his own net before setting up Heung Min Son for the latest goal involvement between the pair.

However, despite being in complete control of the game, Tottenham's defensive frailties came to the front once again when Matt Doherty conceded a cheap corner, which ended up in Said Benrahma firing home at the far post to reduce the deficit.

Son's second goal eventually secured the points for Spurs, but Roberts was left concerned about Benrahma's goal, which was the third in six games that has been conceded from a dead ball situation.

What did Roberts say about Tottenham?

He told GIVEMESPORT: "To be honest, I think they need two centre halves, because if you don't keep clean sheets, you're never going to win a trophy and we don't keep clean sheets. How many goals do we give away from set-pieces? It's mind-boggling."

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Could Tottenham's defensive problems cost them fourth?

Fortunately for Tottenham, they have two of the finest attackers in the Premier League in Son and Harry Kane, who are currently doing their very best to cancel out their defensive concerns.

Even when Spurs let West Ham back into the game on Sunday, the dynamic duo combined for the second time in the game and the umpteenth time this season to seal the points.

However, if Conte's men want to continue challenging Arsenal for fourth spot, they need to iron out the cheap goals they're regularly conceding, because as shown in the past, there's only a certain amount of times that Son and Kane can keep bailing Tottenham out.

But, for now, heading into the international break with an encouraging set of fixtures to come, Spurs remain firmly in the conversation for the Champions League.