Mathieu Flamini believed that he had proven a point after scoring two goals – for the first time in his career – in the 2-1 Capital One Cup win at Tottenham Hotspur.

Flamini scored twice, the second a wonderful volley, and said that he had proven his critics wrong after a summer of speculation.

“Of course personally I am happy with the two goals today,” Flamini said after the final whistle. “I have heard many people have been talking about me, but what is important is on the field. Today I proved everyone wrong, I am still here, I’ve been working hard and I was ready for this game.”

This was Flamini’s first start for seven months, after a difficult start to the season in which he has only made the match-day squad in the Premier League once, but he was delighted to be involved again at White Hart Lane.

“I hadn’t played for a while,” Flamini said. “But you could see here I’m working hard. And today it was my game. But my team-mates did a great job.”

“It was important because it was a derby, and when you play Tottenham you want to win the game<” Flamini said. “But also for the fans, because we know how important the game is for them, so we did a great job, and now we can start with a new dynamic.”