"We are staying up," chanted pockets of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Roberto De Zerbi's side saw off a feeble Everton effort to save themselves from relegation.

This has been a torrid, torrid season for Spurs, but they have saved themselves from despair, ending their N17 hoodoo against the Toffees through Joao Palhinha's first-half strike.

Palhinha, in many ways, has embodied the fightback under De Zerbi's wing since the March international break, so industrious and crunching in the middle of the park. Tottenham's midfielders have had to step up in the absence of fit and firing forwards.

We have seen a few heroes sprout up over the past few months, at least, Palhinha among them, but the Portuguese isn't alone in having come up trumps.

Spurs' heroes in the fight against relegation

Palhinha has earned his flowers across this fraught loan spell, and in all honesty, he deserves to make north London his permanent home this summer, bringing tough-tackling quality to the engine room.

However, he's not alone in having dragged the Lilywhites out of this mess, with Micky van de Ven faultless against Everton, flying in with challenges and leading by example as the injured Cristian Romero watched from the sidelines. Pedro Porro also put in a Man of the Match performance under the baking sun, creating three chances and winning seven duels.

In truth, the defence as a unit has stepped up and performed when De Zerbi and this club have needed them most, ignoring the injuries and the porousness that will take some shaking ahead of the new campaign.

Changes are needed, and no mistake, but these players have rallied at the perfect time - doubly important when you consider how West Ham United thrashed Leeds United on Sunday.

And there's one man in particular who has channelled his inner Jurgen Klinsmann in this perilous battle, making a real difference under De Zerbi's wing.

Spurs' new Jurgen Klinsmann saved them from relegation

This has happened before. Back in 1997/98, Tottenham skirted close to the line in the Premier League, threatened by relegation for much of the campaign.

Klinsmann is a Tottenham cult hero, scoring 38 goals and supplying 15 assists across 68 games for the London club. He spent his first season at the club in the 1994/95 season, though returned on loan three years later to haul them out of trouble, scoring nine goals across 15 matches, notably a four-goal haul against Wimbledon that ensured Spurs finished on 44 points, four clear of the drop zone.

The circumstances differ, but Antonin Kinsky has come up trumps in a different way over the past few months, having previously been written off after his disastrous Champions League performance against Atletico Madrid in February. He was written off as "broken" under Tudor, according to journalist George Sessions, but he has bounced back and then some.

After the game, Tottenham content creator Seb Martin said that "Kinsky is our number one next season", having once again put in a strong and brave performance between the sticks.

With Guglielmo Vicario's place in the team looking ever more uncertain, the Czech Republic international, who is only 23, will surely fancy himself capable of starring for Spurs over the coming years, putting in confident performances that almost beggar belief when considering how he was stripped of confidence after that error-strewn display in Spain.

Kinsky said after the game that "this season didn't go well for me", but in truth, he has responded with incredible tenacity and self-belief, refusing to be consumed by one night of error.

He is not a striker, not likely to fire in goals in a manner reminiscent of Klinsmann in his heyday, but Kinsky has been a trump card over the past few months, and without him, Tottenham's Sunday evening mood may have a very different feel indeed.