Roberto De Zerbi had sunglasses on when he turned up at the Amex last Saturday.

Admittedly, they were perched on top of his head and he was wrapped up in a few layers.

Springtime in England is not like in Italy. Even northern Italy.

But it is still starting to feel like we are entering the business end of the season.

The time when Albion came very good last year.

The time which still takes some of us back to the promotion pushes which are now disappearing six and seven years behind us in the rear view mirror.

De Zerbi says it is a time of year he relishes as temperatures, and the action, warm up.

Albion go to Tottenham in what might even be termed a six-pointer tomorrow.

They have an FA Cup semi-final not too far away.

One game at a time, of course. That is what managers and coaches always say.

Or maybe not De Zerbi, who has already told us who will be in goal at Wembley.

The head coach was asked whether this is a time of year he enjoys.

His reply suggested he sees it as the best of both worlds.

He is excited by what can be achieved but feeling no pressure over coming up short.

De Zerbi said this week: “I am excited for this period, for the last two months of the season.

“But we have to think in the right way, think only of the quality of play and to give our best.

“We should not be focused only on the result but enjoying to play, reaching our target and to make the history of the club.

“I don’t want pressure about results. We are not ready to think only of the results, we are not other big teams.

“We are Brighton. We have to play with the right mentality but we have to enjoy and play with the ball, with courage.”

One gets the impression De Zerbi goes back over past result and counts the points which got away.

Two at Crystal Palace, three at home to Fulham, two against Brentford last week.

But there was a moment in that 3-3 draw which captured why he feels his side will be bold and positive going into the final run.

He said: “After Mac Allister’s goal, when I saw the players taking the ball to restart the play in the 90th minute was an incredible image in my head.

“This image can explain the mentality and attitude to win the game.

“We could lose the game after 3-3.”

When Albion went to North London on successive Saturdays a year ago, they really had nothing to lose.

Coming off a run of six defeats and 0-0 draw at home to lowly Norwich, Graham Potter changed things.

He threw in Moises Caicedo, picked a team with lots of midfielders and few defenders and altered the shape and mindset, telling them to be more “vertical”.

Arsenal had all the pressure as they went for the Champions League.

So did Tottenham a week later as they did likewise.

Albion beat them both and fans sang that North London was theirs.

They played in a liberated, party-spoiling manner to a degree.

Albion’s trick will be to emulate that and harness any expectation as they go for a European place.

Keep the pressure to a minimum while knowing you are playing huge games which can make club history.

De Zerbi said: “We can do both. With our style, we play to win and not to lose.

“The mentality is different, the attitude is different, the thoughts are different. We can’t lose our DNA.

“If we think too much about the result we will lose our DNA, we have to reach the result through our style and DNA.”