Ange Postecoglou has been speaking to reporters after Tottenham's 2-2 draw with Roma in the Europa League and we've got every single word he said.
Tottenham were given a penalty just three minutes in when Pape Matar Sarr was tripped in the box after running on to a Brennan Johnson cutback. Son Heung-min sent the goalkeeper Mile Svilar the wrong way with his spot kick. Roma grabbed an equaliser when Paulo Dybala's free-kick was headed on by Evan N'Dicka and looped in off the crossbar, but Brennan Johnson put Spurs back into the lead when he fired home a low cross from Dejan Kulusevski for his ninth goal of the season.
Both sides hit the woodwork either side of the break and in all Spurs managed it three times, while Roma had the ball in the net three times but VAR ruled them all out for clear offsides.
The visitors did find a late equaliser when Mats Hummels struck from close range moments after Fraser Forster had made a stunning save to deny Mancini's volley.
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou after the game. Here's every word from the Australian's press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
How frustrating is it that your team didn't push through their advantage in that second half?
Yeah frustration with the way the game ended. Yeah we should have killed it off a lot earlier. We should have killed it off in the first half with the chances we had. At 2-1 you're always keeping the opposition in the game and they're throwing men forward, so disappointing we weren't able to see the game out. Ultimately we're still in a decent position.
You only made four changes and your subs came quite late, are you being hindered in terms of options with the injuries you've got?
It is what it is. We've been in this situation for quite a while. We are fairly thin in terms of squad depth at the moment. We had four kids on the bench tonight so we couldn't even fill the quota. It is what it is, we've been dealing with this for quite a while and I still think we certainly had enough of the game and enough clear cut chances to win the game.
Your team is playing well, you beat Man City and you had the chances to beat Roma tonight, so will you enjoy these games coming thick and fast now?
That's going to be our schedule and we understand that. It's challenging with the absences we have at the moment in terms of the squad, but I think tonight our football was still good but we just lacked a bit, that clinical edge to finish the game off. Overall this whole European competition, we've had some challenges within the first five games so we're in a strong position and that's the main thing.
How many points do you think you'll need to finish in the top eight?
I have no idea. There's three games to go and we're in a pretty decent position. You try to win every game you can and see where that takes you. I think it'll probably be clearer after the next round but it's all pretty tight from what I understand. That's what you expect.
Is there any way to improve the defending from set pieces?
I don't know what to say to that. I think that's the third set piece goal we've conceded from this season in about 20 games. I get it, but I don't know know what to say. Let's move on.
Sonny got a goal but it's only his fourth of the season. Is it fair to say he is lacking confidence in front of goal at the moment?
I don’t know if he’s lacking confidence. Sonny’s had a disrupted year for us, so that doesn’t help. Yeah, he had some good chances tonight to get the goal and he’s getting in those areas. Look, he’s got the quality to take those chances and we know he’s done it consistently for almost a decade, but he’s had a disrupted season being in and out. You can see he is getting back to full fitness now, which is the main thing for us.
We’re quite thin in those wide areas, so he’s playing and we’ve got to make sure we are careful with him, Brennan and Timo because they are the only wingers we’ve got left and will have for the foreseeable future. I thought tonight, it wasn’t just Sonny. There were quite a few really good chances, we hit the post three times as well and a couple cleared off the line. I still felt there were a couple of occasions where a bit more composure would have finished the game off.
You had no doubts about Fraser Forster but he made some good saves, will that be good for his confidence?
I don’t think he’s lacking in confidence. He is an experienced guy and has probably thought to himself that, that is why he is there, if needed to come in and be that reliable goalkeeper for us. It’s helped he’s already played this year, it wasn’t his first game. He’s played his part tonight and it’s just disappointing we weren’t able to capitalise on the football we played to get the three points. I don’t think he’s lacking in confidence, but always good for him to least pull off a couple of big saves for us tonight and get him back into he group.
That was great entertainment again but is the priority of the next three games to win ahead of artistic merit and make sure you are above the dotted line?
No (smiles). Why can’t it just be entertaining? Isn’t it why we all come? Would you really prefer us to sketch out a couple of 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win and we get through. I don’t know. I would much rather we’re exciting to watch and maybe it is edge of the seat stuff and sometimes we don’t get the reward, like we could have tonight, but no, if you want those kind of games, there are plenty in world football you can watch every weekend. I’d like to think when you tune into us you’ll be entertained.
