Vincent Janssen: 'I never doubted myself and I'm staying at Tottenham'

Vincent Janssen says he has never doubted himself or questioned the wisdom of his move to Tottenham – and he expects to be at the club next season.

The Dutchman was the top scorer in his home country last term and moved to Spurs in a £17million deal, but he has found goals much harder to come by in England .

While he has netted four penalties this season, he failed to score from open play in his first 29 appearances for Mauricio Pochettino’s Lilywhites.

However, that long-awaited moment eventually came against Millwall in last month’s FA Cup tie and, with Harry Kane now out of action due to an ankle injury, Janssen led the line against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday.

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It was his first Premier League start since November and he acquitted himself well. When he was withdrawn in the 73rd minute, his side were 1-0 up and the visiting Spurs fans were singing his name.

While Janssen failed to find the net – unlike his replacement Heung-Min Son, who promptly wrapped up the 2-0 victory – there were encouraging signs of an improvement, both in terms of the striker’s contribution and his confidence, and he insists that belief has never left him.

“I’m not that type of guy who’s going to question myself,” he told Yahoo Sport UK .

“It was difficult in the beginning of course because it was a new competition and a new team – a top team. I needed some time and I got the time.

“I’m learning every day, and every minute I get I try to do my best for the team, for the club. That’s what I aim for every day.

“For me a goal is a goal, so if I score a penalty it counts as a goal as well, but of course I was happy to score the first goal from open play, because people talked a lot about it.

“It was nice and it gave me power and I try to keep going. Goals always give you boosts and that one did as well.”

Asked if he is confident he will be at Tottenham next season, Janssen said: “Yes I think so. We will see.”

Janssen is only 22 years old but he has no intention of using his youth as an excuse.

“It doesn’t matter, if you’re on the pitch, how old you are,” he said. “You have to keep going, you have to perform and if you’re 18 or 36 you have to play your games and show [what you can do] on the pitch for Tottenham.

“I was ready for my chance and I got it this time so I was happy to start. I was ill last week and missed the international break, and I felt bad about it because I really wanted to play those games.

“But that sometimes happens in life – you get sick – and I was getting better during the week, and in the end I started in the first XI.

“I was happy we won. We waited for our chance. In the first half we played a lot of football and made them a little bit tired, and in the second half you saw at the end we had some fitness over and we scored our two goals.

“I think we have a lot of goals [to achieve] before the end of the season. We are in the cup, the semi-final, and we’re second in the league so I think there are some nice opportunities.”

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