Tottenham have as many points in the Women’s Super League this term, at the halfway stage, as they accumulated in the entirety of last season. That sentence will offer some satisfaction to their supporters but the head coach, Martin Ho, demonstrates how serious his intentions are when he says: “We’re not even 15% of the way to where I want us to be.”

Ho, appointed in July, uses a specific word four times across the course of the conversation: “Standards.” The former Manchester United assistant coach inherited a team that had finished second from bottom and has Spurs two points off a European place, but he wants them to challenge themselves further.

“We’ve seen some solid performances but we’re nowhere near the finished article,” the Merseyside-born Ho says. “But I’m really excited about what’s ahead, and the ambitions of the club.

“You can’t change everything in five months; it takes time. And I want to do that in small steps whilst evolving the playing group and the infrastructure around me to make sure it’s more sustainable for now and the future, for younger players, for the players that are here.”

Spurs have signed two Norwegians and two Swedes in the winter window – Signe Gaupset, Julie Blakstad, Hanna Wijk and Matilda Nildén – as they utilise a Scandinavian market Ho knows well after managing the Norwegian club Brann, from whom he joined after two years.

Since his arrival, Tottenham have been efficient in front of goal. According to Opta, they rank top of the WSL this term for conversion of big chances, at 62.5%, and have the second-best shot accuracy rate at 39.4%. But it is defensively where improvements have been most marked. They conceded an average of two goals a game last season, the WSL’s joint-second-worst record, but the corresponding figure this term is 1.45 and only three teams have conceded fewer set-piece goals.

“I would never say: ‘I didn’t expect the wins we’ve had,’” the 35-year-old says. “Did I expect to maybe see as big a change in the group now? Maybe not, if I’m being honest, but not from an ability perspective, because I’ll make that clear, the ability is there and the quality is there. It was more maybe psychologically – where was the group at? – in terms of, you finished second to bottom. But I think since I’ve come in I couldn’t have asked any more of the playing group.

Martin Ho says he wants his players to ‘show their own personality and try not to be two different people’. Photograph: James Marsh/Tottenham Hotspur FC/Shutterstock

“Last season they obviously had a disappointing year and it was kind of: ‘How do we get our feet back on the track and start moving in the right direction?’ Just trying to then enable the team to have a clear identity that represents the club, a team that actually lives the values and behaviours of a Tottenham team.”

Home form has been key. Only Manchester City have collected more points at home than Spurs, who are unbeaten in four at home and host Leicester on Sunday in their first game after the winter break, and much of that appears to have come from going back to some basics in the culture behind the scenes.

Ho has been described by multiple sources as a “demanding” coach who expects a lot of his players. Asked if he is something of a disciplinarian, Ho replies: “I wouldn’t say it’s like a military camp – I just have really basic standards, some non-negotiable things on how you should train on and off the pitch, how you should treat one another, how you should respect one another and how you should be on time. [It is about] respecting the environment and the staff. If we do that, everyone will kind of be on the same boat.”

He says “timekeeping is a really big one for me”, and was indeed early for this interview. “I want the players to make sure that they are themselves, and show their own personality and try not to be two different people,” he says. “And then from there, I just keep reminding the players of what we expect, what kind of standards we have as a club and who we are representing. We can’t afford to take our foot off the gas.”

Olivia Holdt slides on the turf after scoring a late winner at home to Aston Villa. Home form has been key to Tottenham’s success. Photograph: Jess Hornby/WSL/WSL Football/Getty Images

Ho’s tenure has coincided with significant changes in the club’s leadership after Daniel Levy’s exit and Peter Charrington being named as non-executive chair. Charrington “checks in after every game, every week, to see how we are”, Ho says. “I have real good contact with a lot of the people around me and they’re very supportive. They really push the women’s team. They have really big ambitions for the women’s team and I think they’re the things that drew me to the club. If I didn’t feel there was ambition here and there was going to be a support around the women’s team to enable us to evolve and progress, I wouldn’t have come here.

“I’m in a blessed position and the club will continue to evolve. I have no doubt we are moving in the right direction.”