Antonio Conte's beliefs of where Tottenham can finish this season have similarities to the admission he made during his time in charge at Inter Milan.
Spurs are currently eighth in the Premier League, seven points off fourth place Man United but with three games in hand.
The Italian's arrival in N17 filled fans and players with joy and hope that some success could be found in ending Tottenham's almost 14 year trophy drought.
There have been some good performances since Conte's arrival but the most recent two fixtures, which saw defeats to Southampton and Wolves, showed some home truths about how much work needs doing at Spurs.
In the January transfer window the Lilywhites saw eight departures and just two incomings, in a period when Conte asked for a right wing-back, striker and central midfielder - but only got the latter.
Tottenham now face a tough final few months of the season and their first struggle comes with a trio of away fixtures in the league, starting with a trip to the Etihad on Saturday.
However, some hope could be restored with previous comments from Conte repeating themselves this week.
The Italian won Serie A with Inter Milan last season, before leaving his role and just a month before commented on his prospects of winning the title.
"I’ve been talking about the Scudetto ever since I arrived because I know there are certain expectations of me and a coach at my level can never be satisfied," he admitted in April last year.
"At the beginning, I mentioned the figure of 1%. It was important to start from that small percentage and increase it while building something together.
“We’ve really focused on the mental side of things because it’s been a very long time since Inter has been competitive," Conte added.
Inter went on to win the title and this season are now just a point behind league leaders AC Milan, with a game in hand.
Now the 52-year-old is at Tottenham, another team who haven't had much success in recent years.
In his most recent interview, which has caused some split opinion amongst Spurs fans, Conte was asked if there were similarities between his current side and the team he first walked into at his former club.
"It is always difficult to make comparisons, but surely when you take the job in a team that hasn't won for a long time it is inevitable that you will lack confidence," the Italian admitted. "The confidence is down and many times at the first obstacle you throw yourself down and many times the negativity increases even more, sometimes you grant goals that you struggle to accept.
"This is part of a process of a team that has to grow a lot to try to be competitive.
"Right now we are one of the many teams that are in the middle, they need to work a lot and this does not scare me at all," Conte added, and went on to admit that the situation at Spurs is very different to what he has experienced before.
However, what may give fans some hope is the one per cent belief comment that he made at both his former club and this week about Spurs.
"I always say that I have to feel one per cent the possibility to win, in this case, to win the league," the Spurs boss explained in an interview with beIN Sports.
"For sure here the situation [is] strange because I feel the one per cent of possibility to have the ambition to finish fourth because the situation is totally different, because this league is very high and there is not a lot of space for other teams than the top teams."
Although Conte states that his ambition seems to be for a top four finish, this belief could change if he is backed in the summer by the likes of Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici with some more fresh faces.
If the Tottenham boss is given the backing from those above him and can put his own stamp on the side then this belief may increase and help Spurs find success, which he alluded to at Inter.
The 52-year-old made the move to north London mid-season, which is a tough task for any manager and he has already spoken about the gap between Tottenham and the top three teams.
Conte has admitted that he needs patience and time to bridge the gap in quality and allow the much needed rebuild to happen.
He managed to do this at Inter Milan and take them on to win the league title, so can he do the same in N17?
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