Thomas Frank spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of our Carabao Cup third round tie against Doncaster Rovers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night (7.45pm).
Here's what he had to say...
Q1: How is the squad looking ahead of tomorrow?
Thomas: "It looks good. Everyone available last time is available again."
Do you have a month when Dejan Kulusevski might return?
Of course Kulusevski is a top player, I always liked him when I saw him from afar. He is a key player for us, a key player for me. Instead of putting an exact month on it - October, November, December - I just want him back as quickly as possible The medical guys and Kulusevski are working really hard on that. So, it's not tomorrow, but hopefully not too far away."
Is it all about winning again this season?
Thomas: "I don’t know any coach or manager or players or club that don’t want to compete and try to win. It’s the same with me, the same with the club. Going into the Carabao Cup tomorrow, really looking forward to it. We will do everything we can to try to win it. You are in a tournament, we play for that, so of course we will do that. Naturally, there will be a little bit of rotation. There should be, with all respect to Doncaster who will most likely play a fantastic game. Grant McCann, who I know him well, as a coach. I faced him in the Championship. He is a very good guy, done very well with the team, plays very offensive football. It’s a team we need to respect but we need to be at our highest level and get into the next round."
How much would it mean to you to win a trophy?
Thomas: "Of course I'd like to win, no doubt about that. For me, I think we probably need to take one game at a time, make sure we get past Doncaster tomorrow and then if we continue progressing then ask me that question when we get to the final. Before that, it's about winning the next one because if we don't win the next one, there's no reason to speak about what's happening maybe in the future."
Are Ben Davies and Randal Kolo Muani available?
Thomas: "Ben and Randal will not be available for selection tomorrow. It's a minor injury for both of them, but it's just too short a turn around."
What's the latest on Kota Takai and Dominic Solanke?
Thomas: ""They are both progressing - both trained today with the team, so that's good."
How difficult is it to keep someone like Antonin Kinsky happy when he came in as a starter from elsewhere - and is he likely to play tomorrow?
Thomas: "Antonin will start tomorrow. I'm very happy with him as a goalkeeper. I think he's a very good goalkeeper with very good potential. For any player not starting, they're not happy. Some probably understand it a bit more. How can I say... outfielders, sometimes, you're young, you're trying to get your way into it, but at some stage you always want to play. Same for goalkeepers. The easy thing for Antonin would have been to stay at his former club. Now it's a bigger stage, a bigger challenge. He has a great future here at Tottenham, I like what I see from him, he just has to keep training well and doing well."
Damola Ajayi can play tomorrow - what do you make of that (loan) rule?
Thomas: "I think it's okay. He's on loan at another club. I know the Premier League have this if you're on loan from a club, you're not allowed to play. We decided to loan him out because it was good for his development. I've done that I'd like to say a thousand times, maybe not a thousand times, a lot of times at Brentford, but we haven't been that lucky to face one of our own players. It is what it is. I think it's a great opportunity for him."
Back on the injury front - is there any chance we could see Kulusevski before the end of the year?
Thomas: "Yes, there's a good chance for that."
How often do you work on set pieces? Do you have specific routines or do you adapt to the opposition?
Thomas: "We have specific principles and specific routines. No doubt about that. I think it's very important, open play and set pieces. It's very important to have those principles in place and then tweak them a little bit towards the opponent, depending on their system, how they defend let's say corners or wide free kicks. Then we can tweak it a little bit, but we can't change it too much because we need to be consistent in the messages."
Have you learned anything from your cup experiences at Brentford against Gillingham and Portsmouth?
Thomas: "It definitely taught me that cup tournaments are cup tournaments and everything is possible both ways. Before those two games you referenced, I went into them very focused, very aware of what could happen. I clearly remember Gillingham, I remember we put a very strong team out there, but it can happen, it's football. That's why we love it. Tomorrow, we'll put a strong team out there. We face an opponent, Doncaster, that are doing well in League One and we need to be on it. It's all about us."
What's your relationship with Vinai Venkatesham been like?
Thomas: "I really like working together with Vinai. Obviously, I didn't know him before I joined Spurs. From day one, he comes across like a fantastic person, really a person that I think understands people and is very approachable. As far as I learned or experienced his processes - calm, good processes, listen, and from that he takes good, calm decisions. That's a strength in this sometimes a tiny bit emotional football world!"
You've had Jun’ai Byfield on the bench a few times this season and you've a few injuries with Kolo Muani and Ben Davies out - is there a chance we could see younger players on the bench tomorrow?
Thomas: "It would be a great opportunity to have some of the younger players on the bench and I always think it's a privileged position to be in if you can give anyone a debut, especially a young player. That's always special and a big moment, so definitely I'm open for that. Of course, they need to show it in the Under-18s, Under-21s, national team, our training and deserve it. There could be an opportunity."
Are you eager to try Mathys Tel down the left?
Thomas: "I would say he plays all his games for the French Under-21s down the middle. He played for us down the middle. I'm definitely aware that he can play to the side as well, to the left and maybe that is his best position. Maybe, I would like to say. So, that's definitely something I have in mind to use as well. It's always that you need to juggle everything. There's a few players also quite good down the left. That's not that they maybe are better than Mathys, it can just be how you construct the team."
How aware are you of the expectation of fans in terms of the Carabao Cup?
Thomas: "I'm very aware. I think it's that balance that... how can I say it transparently, as I said, I would like us to get there where we can compete in all four tournaments throughout the year. If you want to compete in all four tournaments, you need to be good enough to pick the right team every single time. And I promise you before I pick the team, it looks like an unbelievably good plan and also to be brave enough sometimes with the selection both ways to every single time we put a team out there, it's super strong. I think we're also aware that no player can play 60 games x 90 minutes. So, it's that balance we need to hit throughout the season, not only because we are facing Doncaster. It could be Brighton last week, it was Villarreal, you know, we made some changes and we need to hit that perfect number of players that rotate and a strong team. And it will be a strong team tomorrow."
