Tottenham: Igor Tudor confirms his 'priority' as Champions League target set | OneFootball

Croat considers Atletico Madrid clash a ‘free hit’

They have impressed in the Champions League, though, finishing fourth in the league phase of the competition to set up a two-legged tie with Atletico.

The Croat agreed when asked if he felt tomorrow’s game against Atletico was a free hit because Premier League survival was a priority for his side.

“I agree with both things,” Tudor said in his pre-match press conference on Monday evening.

“As I said, focus on us, playing a team, who has a story in this Champions League, what they have experienced, they have quality.

“We need to do our best in terms that we need to grow, as you said also. Because our first aim is the Premier League, this is something extra, but that doesn't mean that we don't want to pass to the next round.”

Tudor has maintained that he is confident Spurs are close to turning a corner despite a winless start to his interim reign, and says that he is noticing improvements in the way his side is training as he looks to narrow down on a squad he can trust for the final months of the campaign.

Early on in his reign, after Spurs’ 4-1 defeat to Arsenal in his first game in charge, Tudor said there were bad habits that his squad needed to exercise, and on that point, he pleaded patience, as he admitted that such habits take time to change.

“I saw that more the time has passed, the sessions are always better, there's more quality in everything. Especially because important players are coming back in the team. So that's the key, of course. As I said before, lots of old habits, sometimes take more time than you expected to change.

“This is also very interesting. This is the thing we are speaking about, me with the staff every day, how fast we can make the changes. Sometimes it's not easy. It's still a good effort, which usually we are not able to do.

“When I'm speaking about changes, when I'm speaking about boats, when I'm speaking about that, because it's not easy to change the things you are doing for months or for a year. So, something is moving. Not just something. So, we'll see tomorrow. We'll see tomorrow.