theScore.com

Tottenham suffered a potentially seismic 3-0 defeat to Premier League relegation rivals Nottingham Forest on Sunday, failing to rise to a rallying call from their massed ranks of fans.

Thousands lined the streets to cheer the squad before the crunch fixture in north London and there was a crackling atmosphere in the ground as kick-off approached.

Spurs bossed the first half but Forest took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Brazilian forward Igor Jesus headed home a Neco Williams corner.

Forest doubled their lead just after the hour mark when Morgan Gibbs-White finished under Guglielmo Vicario and substitute Taiwo Awoniyi compounded Tottenham's misery with a late strike.

The vital win for Vitor Pereira's men lifts them above Spurs, who are now just one point and one place above the bottom three.

Last year's Europa League winners are staring at the nightmare prospect of relegation from the top tier of English football for the first time since 1977 unless they can arrest their steep decline.

As if to underline the club's current plight, a few miles across London, bitter rivals Arsenal were gunning for their first trophy of a potential quadruple in the League Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.

Spurs, led by interim boss Igor Tudor, came into Sunday's game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without a win in the Premier League since late December.

But they were buoyed by last week's 1-1 draw at Liverpool and a midweek win against Atletico Madrid, even though they exited the Champions League on aggregate.

Fans rally

Fan groups set up a initiative ahead of the game called "Show Up, Sing Up, Stay Up", calling for supporters to rally.

Fireworks were let off and a section of fans chanted the name of former boss Mauricio Pochettino before the team bus was serenaded with chants of "Come on you Spurs" as white and blue smoke filled the air.

A message on the stadium screens from captain Cristian Romero said: "We'll fight for everything, all together."

Forest, who started the day just outside the drop zone, looked the more dangerous team in the early minutes but Tottenham settled and started to enjoy the bulk of the possession, with Richarlison heading wide.

However, the home side struggled to create clear-cut chances and paid the price when Jesus put Forest ahead in the 45th minute, meeting Williams' corner with a bullet header.

Spurs came within a whisker of levelling at the other end but Forest goalkeeper Matz Selz touched Mathys Tel's powerful shot onto the crossbar in the dying seconds of the opening period.

As the half wore on the home fans among the crowd of 61,519 became increasingly edgy.

And they were shocked into silence when Gibbs-White, a target for Spurs in last summer's transfer window, slotted home in the 62nd minute from Callum Hudson-Odoi's cross.

Tudor made a number of attacking changes, bringing on Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons, but to no avail.

Awoniyi's goal in the 87th minute sent home fans scurrying for the exits.

The only chink of light for Spurs on Sunday was a 2-0 defeat for West Ham against Aston Villa, which leaves the Hammers in the bottom three.

Thomas Frank said on Monday that Tottenham have to understand the gravity of their predicament to snap a seven-game winless run in the Premier League against Newcastle on Tuesday.

Spurs sit just six points above the relegation zone in 15th.

Frank has so far been handed a stay of execution by the club's board, but did not play down the desperation of his side for just a third home league win of the season.

"There is no doubt we are desperate to win games," said the Dane at his pre-match press conference.

"You need to be desperate. If you are not desperate you do not understand the situation you are in, in terms of you haven't won enough and you need to win football games.

"That's what we want for the fans, for the team, for the club."

Frank has faced repeated calls for his head by a frustrated Tottenham support during a miserable first season in charge.

But with his squad ravaged by injury, he called on the supporters to give their side the encouragement they need to dismiss fears of a relegation battle.

"When you are in a situation, when it's not going straightforward, you need the fans more," added Frank. "We need the fans tomorrow, massively, to back the team."

Already short of options, Frank will now be without captain Cristian Romero for four games afer he was sent-off in a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

Destiny Udogie also picked up a hamstring injury in that match which will rule him out for up to five weeks.

Romero has been criticised for picking up the sixth red card of his Tottenham career just days after he spoke out publicly to lambast the club's board for not doing enough to help the squad in the transfer market.

But Frank defended the Argentine international's disciplinary record.

"When you have a player that's playing with so much passion and aggression, things like that can happen," said the former Brentford boss.

"That's not to say he shouldn't learn from it. Of course he needs learn from it going forward."

Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia inspired Aston Villa's fightback to win 2-1 against Tottenham on Sunday as the north Londoners suffered more misery on home turf.

Rodrigo Bentancur put Thomas Frank's side ahead early in the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But Rogers equalised with a superb strike before the interval and Buendia came off the bench to seal the points in the closing stages.

Tottenham's woeful home form in the Premier League -- 11 defeats and just three wins in 18 league games -- has proved a major issue for Frank since he replaced the sacked Ange Postecoglou in the close-season.

While the majority of those home losses came under Postecoglou last term, Frank's short tenure has produced mixed results at the club's 62,000-seat stadium, with boos audible after a defeat to Bournemouth in August and a 1-1 draw with lowly Wolves last month.

The end of Tottenham's seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions left them in sixth place after the second defeat in Frank's eight league games.

"It was exactly the game I expected it to be, very tight. There weren't too many chances. I think overall it could've gone either way," Frank said.

"I think 1-1 would've been a fair result. Villa scored two goals from outside the box in moments where you wouldn't expect them to score.

"Fair play for their moments of quality. We also easily could have won."

Villa have responded to their longest winless start to a season since 1964 with five successive victories, three in the top-flight and two in the Europa League, extending their unbeaten streak to eight matches.

It was especially notable that Villa finally beat a top-four rival away from home after taking just one point from their six trips last season to the English sides currently in the Champions League.

Unai Emery's team are up to 10th place as they try to climb back into the race for Champions League qualification.

"The way the players responded, even when we were losing 1-0, this is the way we are trying to get better at and try to build the team with this structure," Emery said.

"Most importantly we are recovering some players. The dressing room is different now."

Rogers rocket

Already without James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma, Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke due to fitness issues, Frank lost captain Cristian Romero to an injury in the pre-match warm-up.

Despite that blow, Tottenham needed just five minutes to take the lead.

Mohammed Kudus's cross was headed back across goal by Micky van de Ven towards Bentancur, who dispatched a clinical finish past Emiliano Martinez from eight yards.

Bentancur celebrated by shoving the ball under his shirt to create a bump in tribute to his wife, who is pregnant with the couple's second child.

Tottenham forward Wilson Odobert threatened with a low shot that Martinez palmed away in the driving rain.

But Rogers hauled Villa level in spectacular fashion after 37 minutes.

The England midfielder's first goal this season was well worth the wait.

Taking aim 20 yards from goal, Rogers unloaded a stunning strike that left Tottenham keeper Guglielmo Vicario grasping at thin air as it curled over his out-stretched arm.

Odobert's goal-bound rocket was blocked by Ezri Konsa before Martinez denied Joao Palhinha as Tottenham looked to take charge in the second half.

But Mathys Tel joined Tottenham's growing injury list as the forward limped off to have a heavy bandage wrapped around his knee.

Frank's problems were mounting and Villa took full advantage in the 77th minute.

Matty Cash's cross-field pass found Lucas Digne and he teed up Buendia, who whipped a fine finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Randal Kolo Muani, making his Premier League debut, should have rescued Tottenham in stoppage-time, but the on-loan Paris Saint-Germain striker scooped over with the goal at his mercy.

Ange Postecoglou says he does not feel "disrespected" by former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino's stated desire to manage the club again one day.

Pochettino, currently in charge of the United States' national men's team, enjoyed a successful five-year spell as Spurs boss, taking them to the 2019 Champions League final, which they lost to Liverpool.

Recently the Argentine, who has also managed Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, expressed his desire to one day return to the north London club.

Postecoglou, the present Spurs' manager, was asked about Pochettino's comments on Wednesday, on the eve of Tottenham's Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

"I mean Mauricio, if he wants to come back one day, I hope it happens for him. We all have dreams and aspirations," said the Australian. "If that's what he wants, then... you're suggesting he is trying to put pressure on me?

"Well, I don't feel disrespected. I think if you ask Mauricio that question directly, you would get a pretty clear answer as to what his intent was.

"Again, nothing for me to be consumed with. I'm more focused on making sure we try to win tomorrow night."

A 2-0 loss at Fulham on March 16 was Tottenham's 15th defeat of the Premier League campaign and led to more speculation about Postecoglou's future during the recent international break.

"I know what my responsibilities are and I am sure if the club decide to go in a different direction, there are some outstanding candidates for it," said the 59-year-old.

"And you know what, maybe someone will think, 'Ange Postecoglou is not a bad coach, maybe we'll take a punt on him'.

"Mate, it doesn't rock my world. It doesn't consume me. I am here, I am passionate about what we're doing. I was brought in to change the way the club plays, rejuvenate the squad and bring success. I am focused on that and that is what I'll keep doing."