AARON Lennon believes there is no mystery to the dramatic change in fortunes at Tottenham over the past year – last summer's signings have simply had time to settle into the team. Twelve months ago, under Juande Ramos...

By Ben Pearce

AARON Lennon believes there is no mystery to the dramatic change in fortunes at Tottenham over the past year - last summer's signings have simply had time to settle into the team.

Twelve months ago, under Juande Ramos, Spurs flooded White Hart Lane with fresh faces, recruiting Heurelho Gomes, Luka Modric, David Bentley, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Giovani Dos Santos.

The Lilywhites went on to make their worst ever start to a league campaign, famously taking just two points from their first eight games before Ramos was sacked and replaced with Harry Redknapp.

Twelve months on, Spurs have enjoyed their most successful kick-off for 49 years, taking maximum points from their opening four league fixtures while also advancing past Doncaster in the Carling Cup.

Theories about Tottenham's remarkable revival are swirling around N17, with Redknapp taking most of the plaudits, along with January signings Wilson Palacios and Jermain Defoe.

But Lennon is adamant that steady improvement by the likes of Gomes, Modric and Pavlyuchenko should not be overlooked, arguing that time - and luck - have been key factors in Spurs' change in fortunes.

"Why has it all changed? I think the squad has just had more time to play together," explained the winger. "I think last year we were unlucky, a lot of people were writing us off but we weren't actually playing that badly.

"Nothing was going our way whereas this year we're scoring late goals and the team's started off a lot better. I think it's mainly down to everyone having a good pre-season together, and the squad has just gelled. We've been together a lot longer than we had before."

Tottenham's perfect start to this season owes much to Lennon, who has scored winning goals in the last two league matches, handing Spurs maximum points against both West Ham and Birmingham City.

And, having achieved his best ever goals tally last season, the ambitious 22-year-old has revealed that he is aiming to double that score this campaign.

"I think five is my best, but I definitely think I'm capable of getting 10, so I'll look to get that this year," he said. "I think I've got goals in me and I've set my goal at 10.

"That's definitely one of the things I've been trying to improve in my game, getting more goals, and I've got two in two now so I'm happy, but I still want to get plenty of assists as well."

Next up for Spurs are back-to-back clashes with Manchester United and Chelsea, and Lennon believes that Spurs' top-four rivals will be taking their north London opponents very seriously.

"If you look at our results against the top four we win quite a few of them and we don't really lose to them," he added. "I don't think they've ever thought that we're easy, and I don't think anyone thinks that we're a pushover.