Defender Leah Rawle says the expressive style Spurs Ladies attack teams with shows they’re thriving at the summit of the FA Women’s Premier League South – and she is adamant the only expectations the squad have is that which they put on themselves.

Karen Hills’ three-pronged attack of Wendy Martin, Kelley Blanchflower and Bianca Baptise shot the Lilywhites into a 3-0 half-time lead at Portsmouth on Sunday.

And although Gemma Hillier struck back for the hosts, Lucia Leon put the result beyond doubt minutes later.

Tottenham remain top, still four points clear of Charlton Athletic, but now eight ahead of Cardiff City with five games to go.

And the two teams meet on Sunday, knowing a Spurs victory will all but hand the title to them.

Rawle said: “From the outside it may look like we were under pressure because we’ve come this far, but for us, we’re just pleased with ourselves. We’re happy with how things are going, so we look at every single game as if it’s a challenge to enjoy – and every game is a final now.

“Maybe there’s pressure, but for us we believe in ourselves, we’re confident, so we don’t really play with anything in mind other than to win. You could tell in the first-half when we came out, we were playing with freedom, we’re enjoying games. The only bit of pressure we can have is what we put on ourselves – and I don’t think we’ve done that too much this season.”

The result followed their midweek triumph in the Boux Avenue (Ryman) Women’s Cup, and Rawle alluded to the perfect preparation that winning feeling provided.

She said: “Playing a couple of games within a few days can be difficult, but it did give us lots of confidence as we had a really good performance against Charlton. That just gave us that bit of belief coming into another league game, which is what we’re all prioritising as well, so it proved to be really helpful.

“Last season we were almost surprised in ourselves, and to carry that form into the way we started out this season, we were a little surprised again. However, we shouldn’t be because we are putting the hard work in.”

Rawle knows that victory over Cardiff in Cheshunt could possibly set-up a season-defining moment against West Ham United at White Hart lane on Wednesday.

She added: “We’re not really worried about the results of other teams to be honest, because the way we look at it is, we’ve got ourselves to this position so we’re the ones that will effectively have a say in us winning the league.

“I’m really looking forward to the Cardiff game – it’s getting to the point now where it’s going to be the biggest game of the season.

“Everyone can’t wait, it’ll be nice to have them at home as well before we travel to them – and everyone is looking to improve off this performance.”