Tottenham players have stated talking about relegation, admits boss Tudor ahead of crunch Crystal Palace clash

Igor Tudor says the Tottenham players have started to discuss the possibility of relegation and insists no-one is hiding from the fact they are in a dogfight to remain in the top flight.

Spurs host Crystal Palace tomorrow night in another hugely important game as they look for their first win in the Premier League since a 1-0 triumph at Selhurst Park on December 28.

That poor run has seen them slip to 16th in the table, and cost Thomas Frank his job.

Former Juventus boss Tudor was drafted in on an interim basis but has not made the best of starts with successive defeats to Arsenal and Fulham, results that have left Tottenham just four points above the drop zone.

Asked if there had been talk of going down among the players, the Croatian said: “A little bit. They have started to speak about it a little bit now.

“Everyone understands the situation. There is something wrong if you don’t understand. My job is to put the pressure away, but the players’ job is to accept the pressure is there.

“There is real pressure out there. People need to make money for their families and are working in jobs like doctors, who are doing operations and deciding about life and death – that’s real pressure.

“We just have to be ready to accept this and stand up. We have to be ready to say ‘we can do this’ so that we don’t fall behind. We have to take responsibility and have the courage to confront this.

“This is the best way to do it, and the only way to do it.”

It’s okay to be angry after a defeat – Tottenham boss Tudor

Tudor cut a demoralised figure after the weekend setback at Craven Cottage but insisted it was okay to feel angry at a defeat.

He said: “I feel better now. Of course, there was emotions and some disappointment after the game because we are working hard with the players on what they need to do, but the result didn’t come.

“Of course it was a little bit disappointing, but that’s how we should feel [after a game like that]. We need to be angry and disappointed. I won’t be the guy who says everything is perfect, smiles and acts like nothing has happened.

“Also it’s about me, personally, sending a message to everyone that I do not accept the situation – but we move on. We had a good but short period to prepare for this next game and I have seen the guys react really well.

“We need to be optimistic about tomorrow’s game. We play at home against a good team, but we’re in our stadium and in front of our fans.”

Tottenham’s remaining fixtures:

• Crystal Palace (h)
• Liverpool (a)
• Nottingham Forest (h)
• Sunderland (a)
• Brighton (h)
• Wolves (a)
• Aston Villa (a)
• Leeds United (h)
• Chelsea (a)
• Everton (h)

‘Tottenham have to believe’

Tudor remains confident Spurs can pull clear and says it is on him to get the most out of his underachieving squad.

“We need to have belief that we have enough quality to do it [stay in the Premier League],” he added.

“My point is to give both things to the players, this is how my job works in this sport. I’m trying to touch the players in all kinds of ways.

“I’ve seen a good willingness to change. We need something to change, of course, and I have seen small progress.

“Tomorrow we need to keep going in the direction I believe we need to take and put out a good performance as a team.”

Tottenham down to the bare bones again for Palace clash

Tottenham still have a lengthy injury list – Djed Spence won’t return against Palace – while there was no update on Destiny Udogie or Dejan Kulusevski, who are believed to be the closest to full fitness.

“We are still waiting for other players to come back [from injury] and give something to the team, like Pedro [Porro] came out in the last game and immediately we saw that he gives something to his team-mates,” said Tudor.

“So it’s important to have all the pieces together because every team in the Premier League would struggle without 7, 8 or 10 players. Until then, we will continue to work on doing things better.”