LONDON, March 5 : Striker Dominic Solanke said Tottenham Hotspur must figure out a way to avoid Premier League relegation “as soon as possible” after Thursday’s 3-1 defeat by Crystal Palace continued a downward spiral that has put the club’s top-flight status in jeopardy.
Solanke’s statement may sound like stating the obvious, but that is the harsh reality for a side that is hovering just above the drop zone in 16th place.
Unless Tottenham arrest a winless league run stretching back to last year, they will go down for the first time since 1977.
“We’ve just had a big conversation. We know the position we are in is definitely not where we want to be so we need to figure out how we are going to get out of it as soon as possible,” Solanke told TNT Sports.
“We know there’s been difficulties but we’re not in a position to make any excuses anymore. We need to fight and realise the position we are in.
“We know the club is not used to being in this position so we need to understand it and understand it’s not going to be easy and we need to fight every single game, every single minute, to make sure we improve.”
Solanke’s fine finish after great work by Archie Gray gave Tottenham a 34th-minute lead against Palace but the wheels fell off after Micky van de Ven was red-carded four minutes later for hauling down Ismaila Sarr in the penalty area.
Sarr converted the penalty and Palace struck twice more before halftime with Adam Wharton setting up Jorgen Strand Larsen and then Sarr for his second.
To their credit, 10-man Tottenham were the better side after the break as Palace took their foot off the gas, but they could not prevent a fifth successive league defeat that leaves them one point above the relegation zone.
Interim manager Igor Tudor has now lost all three of his games in charge since replacing Thomas Frank, but the Croatian said he saw signs of hope on Thursday.
“The red card changed the game. Then we conceded two or three fast goals. In the second half we tried. We wanted some good energy, I saw something to make me believe we can do it and I am sure we will do,” he said.
