Igor Tudor insists he has belief in his players than ever, even after Tottenham's 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace left them just a point above the relegation zone. The loss extended Spurs' winless run to 11 league matches, and their problems deepened when Micky van de Ven was sent off, ruling him out of the next game against Liverpool.
Speaking to TNT Sports afterwards, the Croatian boss said: "After this game I believe in [them] more than before, maybe it sounds strange but this is it," he told TNT Sports. "I saw something in the team, I saw that there is something, even now in the dressing room after the game.
"When we will be complete and I choose the right guys, it will be good I believe. I saw something, some good energy, some wish to do, some passion.
"The fight, I saw it was there. Unfortunately the red card changed the game but there are still nine games to play. We need to stop the speak abut the pressure, this is not a topic to speak about. I will not speak anymore about pressure."
Despite taking the lead through Dominic Solanke, Spurs trailed 3-1 at the break. Ismaila Sarr scored twice and Jorgen Strand Larsen added another after Van de Ven was sent off.
The Dutchman was adjudged to have denied Sarr a goalscoring opportunity, pulling him down inside the penalty area. Van de Ven will now miss the Premier League match against Liverpool at Anfield on March 15.
FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE!Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Reflecting on the team's situation, Solanke admitted the squad had held frank discussions about their current situation. "We've just had a big conversation," he said.
"We know the position we are in is definitely not where we want to be so we need to figure out how we are going to get out of it as soon as possible. We know there's been difficulties but we're not in a position to make any excuses anymore.
"We need to do the job on the pitch. It is easy to say we want to be better but we want to be better on the pitch. We need to fight and realise the position we are in.
"We know the club is not used to being in this position so we need to understand it and understand it's not going to be easy and we need to fight every single game, every single minute, to make sure we improve."
Spurs' season has been heavily disrupted by injuries, with Wilson Odobert, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Ben Davies, Lucas Bergvall, Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence all currently sidelined.
Meanwhile, Spurs hero Peter Crouch also pointed out that those injuries have left the squad lacking quality.
"I don't think there is quality," he said. "The best players are out injured. Tottenham are bang in trouble.
"I look at Manchester United and they looked to Michael Carrick, he has managed to get a tune out of those players straight away. Tudor is a massive gamble.
"There are no players who have come through from the youth team, players who know the club. Archie Gray was the best player for Tottenham, and he's 19 years old.
"There's not enough leaders out there."
Spurs sit just one point above the relegation zone on 29 points. Nottingham Forest and West Ham are both on 28 points.
Attention now turns to regrouping and getting ready for next Tuesday's Champions League round‑of‑16 trip to Atletico Madrid.