Igor Tudor makes surprise Tottenham admission amid relegation battle | OneFootball

Interim head coach battling an injury crisis amid search for first win

Igor Tudor has admitted that Tottenham are physically “not in an amazing position” ahead of a huge week in their battle against relegation.

Games against Fulham and Crystal Palace are viewed as must-win for Spurs, and Tudor admits his squad, who are beset by injuries, are struggling to adapt physically to his high pressing style.

“Physically, I believe, we are not in an amazing situation,” Tudor said on Thursday.

Spurs have been boosted by defenders Pedro Porro and Kevin Danso returning from injury, but with nine first-team players unavailable due to injury and suspension, Tudor has limited options at his disposal.

Spurs’ injury issues are already causing Tudor plenty of stress, with the 47-year-old cryptically stating that he will keep his opinions on the club’s crisis to himself.

"I have my thoughts, I have opinions here, but I keep them to myself,” he said.

Tudor hopes that Spurs’ injury list will begin to show signs of improvement over the coming weeks.

However, he says the pressure his side are exhibiting is a consequence of the physical and mental load his threadbare squad are managing right now.

“It is both things, physical and mental,” the Croatian continued.

“There is some pressure here in this club, of course. Some players are still young. They were brought here to help and now maybe they are in a moment where they need to resolve the problems.

“If you have too many of these players because of the amount of injuries who are playing together in the squad, it does create some problems, but it is also an opportunity and a challenge to grow fast, to become a man.

“To grow fast and say, ‘Come on, I’m the guy, give me the ball, I will score’ instead of just, ‘What can I do, I’m just here you know’. This is the challenge for each of them.

“It’s always how you see the situation. You can always see it both ways. Or I’m not, I’m just here and we had 15 players and I was always left out and now we have 10 players out, so I play. How do you really see that situation? If you are the right guy, positive there is opportunity.”

Tudor acknowledges that his side is physically and mentally fatigued heading into the final months of the season and Spurs are not currently in a position to execute the pressing style he wants to implement.

It is still early days, but time is of the essence and Tudor knows that if results are to improve then his players need to quickly get to grips with the physical demands of his system.

“They are fatigued,” he said.

“To do the pressing high, you need to be fit. But all of them because if someone is not in the right shape there is a problem because someone is coming late. The second thing is that there is the other goal to protect.

“It is easy to run there but you need to run back, so if you run up and don’t run back it’s a problem.

“For sure, we will improve and do these things better over time but in this moment, it’s a big question - what we can do and what we cannot do.”