Mourinho denies Ndombele doubts after Spurs scrape past Lokomotiv Plovdiv | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur survived a scare by coming from behind to beat Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League second qualifying round.

Georgi Minchev headed the Bulgarian hosts ahead on 72 minutes before the home side had two players sent off with 10 minutes left.

But Harry Kane brought Spurs level from the penalty spot and substitute Tanguy Ndombele bundled in the winner in the 85th minute.

Spurs now face another long trip next Thursday to face Macedonian side Shkendija in the third qualifying round.

Speaking after the game, Mourinho said he never had any doubts about Ndombele's ability after the Frenchman's tough debut season in 2019/20.

"Tanguy is in a process of evolution," Mourinho said in his post-match press conference.

"Last season he wasn't. Last season he was stuck in a situation where I couldn't see evolution. In this moment he's training very, very well.

"He's recovering from his injury, he's recovering physically and today he gave us what we needed in this last 30 minutes.

"In this moment, I believe in Tanguy. I never doubted his quality. Never. I doubted in some moments his motivation and commitment and professional attitude.

"In this moment I believe in him. Today we made this decision together to not start the game because he also feels that he needs a bit more but in this moment I think that Tanguy can do well for us."