Harry Kane believes he is again hitting peak form in time for the festive period and that the busy schedule will benefit him as he bids to overtake Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the race for the Golden Boot.
Kane scored eight goals in six matches last December, including back-to-back hat tricks against Burnley and Southampton. One year on, the 25-year-old has struck eight times in his last 10 games for club and country, including the early opener in Wednesday's 3-1 home win over Southampton.
While some Spurs fans will be concerned about Kane's workload and the risk of fatigue, the striker believes he is most dangerous when the games are coming thick and fast.
"This is the sort of period I like, where you get into a rhythm, get into a routine," he said. "I feel in good shape and I feel I'm at my best when I'm in my rhythm.
"You don't think too much. If you miss a couple of chances you get back quickly. You know where the spaces are, you know where the ball's going to drop.
"It's these sorts of periods in my career where I'm at my best. It might be down to fitness as well -- when teams are tired I exploit the space a bit more. In December and January I hit top form, and winning games is important in this period as well."
Kane's strike against Southampton was his ninth in the Premier League this term, leaving him just one goal behind the leader, Arsenal's Aubameyang, at the top of the scoring chart.
The Spurs forward, who won the top-flight Golden Boot in 2016 and 2017 before also taking the prize at the summer's World Cup, said: "Since I've been in the Premier League it's had some of the best strikers in the world. Aubameyang is at the top end at the moment. There's quite a few on eight or nine goals so it's important for me to carry on doing what I'm doing.
"When you've done it on the biggest stage of them all, the World Cup, you can look back and gain confidence from that. If you're going through a spell where you're not scoring, a couple of games here and there, you know you can do it at the highest level."
Tottenham's victory over Southampton was a welcome one after the pain of Sunday's 4-2 defeat to Arsenal, and Kane is pleased that he and his teammates will get another crack at the Gunners when they return to the Emirates for their League Cup quarterfinal in two weeks' time.
"It was a derby game and you never want to lose those kinds of games," he said. "Credit to them, they were probably the better team on the day but it was important for us to dust it off and get back to winning ways.
"Revenge is a strong word but we'll be motivated [in the quarterfinal]. It was a heated derby. It's what you want a derby to be like.
"It's an opportunity for us to get one back if we can. That's still a couple of weeks away but I'm sure the fans will be looking forward to it, and we will be as well."