Van de Ven: 'We just want to turn things around' | OneFootball

Micky van de Ven dismissed reports that Tottenham Hotspur players 'don't care' about the club's fate ahead of tomorrow's second leg against Atlético de Madrid.

The North London side are looking to overturn a 5-2 defeat suffered in Madrid and will be buoyed by their performance in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at the weekend.

"I've seen things going by, it's not something I look at a lot, to be honest," Van den Ven said about reports on the attitudes of the club's players during Spurs' unlikely relegation struggle. 

"It's reporters just saying something. So we're just like, how do you even come up with this? Like players are switched off or don't care about the situation. What's happening right now?

"And the only thing I can say about it is it's not true. It will be strange if a player will be in a dressing room now and saying 'Oh, I'm gonna leave, either way or I don't focus about the situation'.

"It doesn't affect me. And I think it's just nonsense. It's the biggest nonsense. Everybody's just focused on what's going ahead and what's in front of us."

The defender went on to say how reports have 'frustrated' players: "The other day when we read that one guy told the rest of the team that he doesn't care because he's leaving anyway. It's like how does this come out? It's just made up. And the fans will believe it. It's just frustrating for us guys.

"It brings so much more trouble as well, because fans are starting to believe this, but trust me, all the people involved on the pitch, the staff, the players, everyone, they care so much about the situation we're in right now, and we just want to turn things around.

"If there are some reports saying the guys don't care anymore, it's frustrating for our guys."

Meanwhile, Spurs manager Igor Tudor confirmed that João Palhinha will not be fit for the second leg although Destiny Udogie and Lucas Bergvall will make the bench. Cristián Romero is also available but illness may see Conor Gallagher miss out.