Martin Ho is ready to chat, after being playfully reprimanded by the waiter in a south London cafe for leaving a lone tomato on his plate. “It’s got more vitamin C in it than orange juice,” the waiter quips as he clears the table.

It has been quite the season for the 35-year-old Tottenham head coach, who took charge of a team in July that looked rudderless and despondent as it limped to an 11th-place finish in the WSL, one season on from finishing sixth and reaching an FA Cup final.

Spurs are back up the table with three games to play. They sit in fifth, three points away from matching their best WSL tally of 32 points, which was achieved in the 2021-22 season.

On Monday they face an FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, having reached the same stage of the League Cup, where they exited after a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.

“If the season finished now, I’d say it’s been a success,” says Ho, who began his coaching career at 17 having not made it as a young player in Everton’s academy. “From where the team was to where it is now, internally we’ve achieved...