Mathys Tel sends reassuring Tottenham message as form slump continues | OneFootball

Mathys Tel insists Tottenham Hotspur have enough quality, both in terms of playing personnel and staff, to put their troubles behind them.

The 19-year-old scored his first Spurs goal in the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup, just four days after the club bowed out of the Carabao Cup after a heavy semi-final second loss at Liverpool.

The pressure continues to mount on the shoulders of manager Ange Postecoglou, who stood resolutely behind his players after the latest defeat and asked if any club in the country could possibly cope with the current injury crisis.

Up to a dozen first-team players have been sidelined recently, including first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, first-choice centre-back pairing Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, and first-choice striker Dominic Solanke, who cost the club a whopping £55m in the summer.

Tel joined Spurs on deadline day to help lift some of the gloom in north London, and the Frenchman has no doubts that his teammates have the right mindset and ability to put things right in the coming games and weeks.

Tel has already found the net in a Tottenham shirt / JUSTIN TALLIS/GettyImages

"It’s a good start for me, without the defeats," Tel told club media. "It’s something special for me to play my first game at Anfield, a semi-final, and now my debut and a goal, honestly, that’s good for my confidence. My goal was good, I’m happy, but it’s a difficult day. We have to keep going.

"This game [Aston Villa] was not easy. The opponent was very aggressive. We breathed until the end but, as I said, it wasn’t easy. We can be better. We have to trust in ourselves and go to the end. That’s our mentality.

"Honestly, we are sad about the results, but I know the quality of my team-mates, the staff... I believe in them. I’m not scared about the future. We play next week against Manchester (United) and we are going to do our jobs. We have to be better, to do much more on the pitch and we will see what happens. Our mentality doesn’t move. We have to keep this energy and keep going until the end."

Tottenham's last hope of winning silverware this season rests on success in the Europa League, but they won't be taking their eye off the ball domestically after a terrible run of form in the Premier League. Sitting 14th in the table, the Lilywhites are on course to record their worst top-flight finish in 21 years - a record Postecoglou will want to put right once he starts getting some important players back fit.