The Spurs and France goalkeeper praised the spirit of the squad, but called for better performances moving forward

Hugo Lloris produced one of his best displays of the season for Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Leicester City in the Premier League, but urged his team-mates to improve moving forward.

Spurs remain in the title race after goals from Davinson Sanchez, Christian Eriksen and Heung-min Son earned them a fourth consecutive win in the division.

The Foxes made life tough for Mauricio Pochettino’s side and Lloris’ penalty save in the 60th minute from Jamie Vardy, with the score only 1-0 to the Lilywhites, proved a crucial moment in the game.

Tottenham allowed the visitors to have 20 shots and the club captain no doubt had an eye on Wednesday’s Champions League round of 16 first leg with Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund when he urged the squad to raise their level.

Lloris said: “It was a very difficult game. They’re used to playing good football against the top sides in the league and it was the case again.

“Leicester played in a fantastic way and I think we won the game thanks to our spirit and our character. Without that, we could not have won this game.

“I think we need to improve our team performance because on this occasion we won, but against a bigger side we couldn’t have won that type of game, so it’s up to us.

“But the most important thing was to get another three points in a difficult period, so we kept our consistency and that’s a great feeling in the changing room.”

Despite missing Harry Kane and Dele Alli since the middle of January, Tottenham have managed to remain in contention with Manchester City and Liverpool for the league championship.

Boss Pochettino described Sunday’s game as a “cup final” and even though it was again not a vintage performance from Spurs, they got the job done.

Captain Lloris cast his mind back to their most recent league defeat – a 1-0 loss at home to Manchester United – when reflecting on their display at Wembley Stadium.

He added: “Against a bigger side it would be even more difficult to win, but it’s the way you manage the season too.

“Sometimes you deserve to win, like the game against Man United, and you lose. Probably Leicester deserved a little bit better, but we won.

“This is the league. It’s a long way and without spirit and character, it’s difficult. The mentality is great in the changing room and we showed that again on a difficult day.”

Had Vardy scored his penalty on the hour mark things may have been very different under the arch in Brent.

Lloris managed to save the spot-kick, though, and he admitted it was a good feeling for him.

But was he surprised to see Vardy come on as a substitute after the penalty was won and immediately get given the ball?

“Yes, because his first touch is a penalty, but at the same time, he’s a great player so it’s not a problem for him,” Lloris said.

“It’s part of the game. You need a bit of luck and it helped us to keep believing and then we scored the second goal.

“It was a good feeling for me and the team because at that moment if we conceded a goal the game would have changed completely.”