Tottenham Hotspur

Roberto De Zerbi left the Stadium of Light feeling positive despite a narrow 1-0 loss against Sunderland on Sunday.

Roberto's first game as our new Head Coach typified our current plight - a penalty awarded then taken away by VAR, what turned out to be Sunderland's winning goal taking a huge deflection and then losing skipper Cuti Romero to injury.

We had chances - seven of 11 efforts on target - but home goalkeeper Robin Roefs denied Dominic Solanke from close range, the best chance, at the end of the first half before tipping over a Pedro Porro rocket in added time. At the other end, Antonin Kinsky, who suffered a head injury in the collision that led to Romero's departure, also made fine saves on his return to Premier League action.

Speaking to us afterwards, Roberto reflected: "I'm sorry for the defeat. I'm sorry for the players and for the fans, because there were a lot of fans.

"It's not a good result for us. I think we played a good game, especially in the first half. We could score in two or three situations. In the second half, we lost 20 metres of the pitch. We had another clear chance to score with Richarlison, and we conceded a stupid goal, an unlucky goal.

" We can play better, for sure. We can play with more energy, with more passion and show more qualities but, if you know football, you can understand when you are going through this difficult moment. It's very, very tough to show what you are and what you can do.

"I'm positive, because I talk with them, and I know, I understood, they are suffering. They are good people inside of the dressing room. I stay to help them, because I think it's not a problem of state of play or that they know what they have to do on the pitch. I would like they can put on the pitch more passion, more enthusiasm, more happiness, to play football.

"We have to be stronger than this moment, and positive, because we have the qualities enough to win the game, and when we win the game, we can see everything's different."

Roberto De Zerbi said we’d know more about the extent of Cuti Romero’s injury ‘in the next days’ after the skipper was forced off in the second half of our 1-0 loss against Sunderland on Sunday.

The centre-back collided with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky after a shove from Sunderland forward Brian Brobbey in the 63rd minute at the Stadium of Light. The pair required treatment for five minutes, Kinsky eventually continued with a bandaged head – Cuti limped off in tears.

Asked if he knew more about the injury in his post-match press conference, Roberto said: “We don't know yet, we have to see in the next game, in the next days. I hope for us it's not too important problem, because he's a crucial player for us, he's a good guy, good player, top player, big personality and we need him to finish the season and to achieve our goal.”

Asked if it was an issue with his knee, Roberto added: “Maybe, yes, but I don't want to say nothing, because I don't know.”

Roberto De Zerbi said we’d know more about the extent of Cuti Romero’s injury ‘in the next days’ after the skipper was forced off in the second half of our 1-0 loss against Sunderland on Sunday.

The centre-back collided with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky after a shove from Sunderland forward Brian Brobbey in the 63rd minute at the Stadium of Light. The pair required treatment for five minutes, Kinsky eventually continued with a bandaged head – Cuti limped off in tears.

Asked if he knew more about the injury in his post-match press conference, Roberto said: “We don't know yet, we have to see in the next game, in the next days. I hope for us it's not too important problem, because he's a crucial player for us, he's a good guy, good player, top player, big personality and we need him to finish the season and to achieve our goal.”

Asked if it was an issue with his knee, Roberto added: “Maybe, yes, but I don't want to say nothing, because I don't know.”

Roberto de Zerbi’s first game in charge ended in defeat at Sunderland on Sunday afternoon as we fell to a seventh loss in eight league games.

Appointed two weeks ago following the departure of Igor Tudor, the Italian was unable to change our immediate fortunes as he made his debut as our Head Coach, seeing his new side go down to a narrow 1-0 reverse thanks to a heavily deflected goal from Nordi Mukiele just after the hour mark.

The results means we end the weekend in the relegation zone with six matches to play, with De Zerbi’s first home game coming next weekend against his former side Brighton.

We’d started the match in the bottom three after West Ham’s win over Wolves on Friday night and made a bright start. With just two minutes gone, Lucas Bergvall just couldn’t quite get on the end of Dominic Solanke’s cut-back before Pedro Porro’s effort was gathered safely by Robin Roefs. A few minutes later, Randal Kolo Muani led a breakaway which ended with a weak Richarlison shot.

At the other end, Antonin Kinsky had to be alert to tip over Granit Xhaka’s in-swinging corner while, in the 19th minute, a patient build-up from the Black Cats almost yielded a goal but Brian Brobbey headed over from close range.

We almost had our first penalty of the season in the 21st minute, Kolo Muani going down under a challenge from Omar Alderete with referee Rob Jones initially pointing to the spot. However, he was advised by the VAR to carry out a pitchside review and upon doing so, reversed his decision, announcing that Alderete got a touch on the ball first.

Half chances were coming at both ends in what was a fairly open game, Solanke just unable to get on the end of a Richarlison header before Mukiele should have done better at the back post from a Xhaka free-kick while the former Arsenal midfielder was a whisker wide with a 20-yard drive.

As the first period moved into five minutes of stoppage time, both sides had big chances to take the lead. First, Kinsky made an excellent save to maintain parity, quickly off his line to deny Brobbey after a Xhaka free-kick was flicked into his path, while Solanke’s eyes lit up when a clearance fell to him inside the six-yard box but Roefs kept out his angled drive and we went in goalless at the break.

The early stages of the second half lacked the opportunities of the first and it wasn’t until the hour mark before anyone had a genuine sight of goal – and it fell our way, an excellent move from back to front, but Richarlison’s effort at the end of it was easy for Roefs.

Just seconds later though, Sunderland took the lead, as Mukiele was allowed to move in-field off the right flank and let fly with a left foot shot the flicked off Micky van de Ven, wrong-footed Kinsky and the ball bounced into the far corner of the net. There was a lengthy delay to the game following a horrible collision between Cristian Romero and Kinsky, our skipper leaving the field in tears to be replaced by Kevin Danso while Kinsky was able to continue beat with a bandage to his head.

As we moved into the final 15 minutes of normal time, Solanke’s header from a Mathys Tel delivery was comfortably saved by Roefs before van de Ven made a superb block to prevent Chris Rigg’s shot from troubling Kinsky. There were 11 minutes added on at the end of the game and Pedro Porro’s in-swinging corner had to be tipped over by Roefs as we mounted some late pressure. And Porro was involved again in the 97th minute, a first-time strike from the edge of the box which Roefs again tipped over, but that was our final chance as we suffered defeat again, leaving us without a win in 14 league games.

The line-ups have been confirmed for our first game under Roberto De Zerbi at Sunderland this afternoon (2pm UK).

It’s five changes from our most recent match against Nottingham Forest three weeks ago, with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky coming in for his first league start of the season in place of Guglielmo Vicario, who is recovering from a hernia operation.

Outfield, Destiny Udogie, Conor Gallagher, Lucas Bergvall and Randal Kolo Muani are restored to the team, with Djed Spence, Kevin Danso, Pape Matar Sarr and Mathys Tel making way.

Here’s our full team...

Starting XI: Kinsky, Richarlison, Udogie, Gray, Bergvall, Romero (c), Solanke, Gallagher, Pedro Porro, van de Ven, Kolo Muani.

Substitutes: Austin, Spence, Dragusin, Danso, Palhinha, Sarr, Bissouma, Xavi, Tel.

Hosts Sunderland line up as follows...

Starting XI: Roefs, Mukiele, O'Nien, Alderete, Reinildo, Xhaka (c), Sadiki, Diarra, Rigg, Le Fee, Brobbey.

Substitutes: Ellborg, Hume, Geertruida, Cirkin, Je Jones, H Jones, Talbi, Mayenda, Isidor.

Bergvall on injury frustrations and the impact of De Zerbi

Yusuf Akhamrich ran from deep inside his own half to score a sensational goal for loan club Bristol Rovers at home to Crawley Town on Saturday.

The attacking midfielder, on as an 86th-minute substitute at the Memorial Stadium, collected a header from Richard Smallwood 30 yards out from his own goal and, with the visitors pushing up in search of a leveller, took off on a solo run into space on the counter, crossing the half-way line and continuing on before finishing with a deft chip to complete a 3-1 win for his side in the 96th minute.

Rovers had led 2-0 early on through Ellis Harrison and Mees Rijks but conceded to Louie Watson with 10 minutes remaining. Tom Lockyer was sent off for the hosts on 88 minutes but Yusuf’s marvellous effort made sure they secured their sixth straight victory in League Two.

It was the 20-year-old’s fifth goal since linking up with Bristol Rovers in January.

We’re finally back in action after almost three weeks without a game on Sunday afternoon as we head to Sunderland for Roberto De Zerbi’s first match in charge.

Here’s all the pre-match information you need...

What time does the match start?

The game begins at 2pm UK time.

How can I watch the game?

Sunday’s match will be televised live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event. If you’re following us from overseas, check out our Spurs on TV web page to see if the game is being shown live in your region.

Our Match Centre here on tottenhamhotspur.com and the Spurs Official app will also bring you full live text and audio commentary throughout the game.

Video highlights will be available across club channels from two hours after the full-time whistle, with a full match replay available on demand on SPURSPLAY from midnight.

What is the team news?

Guglielmo Vicario will miss the match after undergoing hernia surgery in recent weeks.

Rodrigo Bentancur is nearing a return following a hamstring injury but isn’t ready to feature at the Stadium of Light, while Mohammed Kudus remains sidelined after suffering a setback in his recovery from a quad issue.

James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert and Ben Davies are all still out.

As for Sunderland, goalkeeper Robin Roefs and defender Nordi Mukiele are set to return from injury, but Dan Ballard is expected to remain sidelined alongside ex-Spur Romaine Mundle, Jocelin Ta Bi, Bertrand Traore, Nilson Angulo and Simon Moore.

Who is the referee?

Sunday’s game will be refereed by Rob Jones.

Neil Davies and Nick Greenhalgh will serve as his assistants, with Tom Bramall as the fourth official.

VAR duties will be handled by James Bell and assistant Nick Hopton.

Drew Spence’s Jamaica made it three wins out of three in their Concacaf Championship qualifiers after an impressive victory over Antigua and Barbuda in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The experienced midfielder began the game among the substitutes but was introduced in the second half for the Reggae Girls as they ran out 4-0 winners at Independence Park in Kingston.

Khadija Shaw netted in stoppage time of the first period to open the scoring for her nation before scoring twice in 10 minutes after the restart to complete her hat-trick. Deneisha Blackwood then converted from the penalty spot to round off a perfect evening for Jamaica.

That result put Jamaica top of Group B in their Concacaf Championship qualifiers with nine points from three games, scoring 25 goals and conceding just twice.

So, as long as Spence and Jamaica avoid defeat to Guyana on 19 April, they will qualify for the finals of the Championship.

A first-half penalty from James Wilson secured a 1-0 home win for our Under-21s over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday night.

The front man sent goalkeeper Alfie Arnold the wrong way from 12 yards after captain Callum Olusesi was tripped in the box by Sebastian Lochhead, settling a game of few clear-cut chances at Stevenage’s Lamex Stadium.

It was the 19-year-old’s fourth goal in his last six matches.

The result lifted us back into the top eight in the Premier League 2 which, barring a large goal swing in favour of 11th-placed Arsenal, should be enough to secure us a home tie in the end-of-season play-offs with one game of the initial league phase still to play.

More to follow...