Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has questioned whether Tottenham will be able to thrive at Wembley this season due to a lack of noise generated by the fans.

Spurs are using England’s national stadium for their home matches this season while the redevelopment work at White Hart Lane continues.

They got off to an inauspicious start on Sunday, though, as Premier League champions Chelsea claimed a 2-1 victory to make it seven defeats in their last nine appearances at Wembley for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

And Courtois believes they might continue to struggle if the home support are unable to create a more intimidating atmosphere.

‘It feels a bit different because obviously their home ground is not this one,’ he said. ‘They have the capacity now to bring a lot of fans into the stadium.

‘If they make more noise it would be better for them but in the first half, if you have to put some noise over the speakers to make some atmosphere, I don’t think it is working very well.

‘In the second half they were pressing and 70,000 people started to wake up. There is obviously more than the 40,000 [36,284] at White Hart Lane.

‘The only difference is that they are more separated from the pitch than at White Hart Lane, where you feel more pressure when they are pressing and the pitch is smaller. That is probably better for them.

‘Wembley is an amazing stadium and makes you want to play even better, it is like a Champions League game where you can rise above yourself.

‘All the teams that come here, instead of being impressed, they will give more, so for Spurs it won’t be easy.

‘But if they have their fans, with 80-90,000 people, they can make it difficult for a lot of teams.’

– This story originally appeared on FourFourTwo.co.za