Premier League

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 (Elanga 28)
TOTTENHAM 0

THEY are giving everything, Ange Postecoglou claimed of his under pressure players as they slipped to their fifth defeat in the past eight Premier League games, falling to a solitary Anthony Elanga goal against Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.

Postecoglou’s Tottenham side are wallowing in 11th, unable to find points or performances – but the Australian’s job remains safe.

He has not lost the dressing room… yet.

“Obviously it is disappointing,” Postecoglou said after the defeat at the City Ground. “The boys are giving everything. I can’t ask for more.

“We’re asking for a lot from them, and it’s not through a want of trying – like I said, that’s all I can ask for. We’re putting in the effort, we just weren’t able to get over the top today.”

He added he felt that Spurs deserved at the very least a draw – and the match statistics pointed to a dominant performance let down by poor finishing.

But the reality was very different: Spurs may have sent waves of attacks forward, held on possession for long spells, but Forest managed their opponents competently, and threatened whenever they broke.

Postecoglou added: “It was never going to be one of those games where there were going to be a lot of opportunities. I thought we had our fair share that we could have capitalised on, but we weren’t able to do so, and in a tight game, there wasn’t much between the teams. It’s tough.

“Like I said, I can’t fault the players’ efforts. Ultimately, they keep trying as hard as they can to get us out of this and will continue to do so.”

The Tottenham boss did have at least a few more options than the injury ravaged squad has offered recently: this afternoon, Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Brennan Johnson all came into the side for Pedro Porro, James Maddison, and Yves Bissouma.

It was desperately needed. However, the fresher legs may have looked beneficial on paper, but none of the three put in memorable performances.

With a bit more confidence and a bit more composure, this could have been a welcome Christmas gift. On five minutes, Heung-Min Son – who performed a disappearing act – raced through on goal but could not beat Matz Sels.

Spurs continued to press and try to bluster and fudge their way into goal scoring positions, but they offered a lot of puffed cheeks and effort, but virtually no magic.

Djed Spence, starting his fourth game in a row, returned to the City Ground along with Johnson, creating the same right-hand side partnership that got Forest promoted.

It was less than ineffective. On 28, Spence lost possession and Neco Williams capitalised. He found Morgan Gibbs-White, who was given the freedom of the park to stride down and collect a pass out of defence before timing his through ball perfectly. Elanga needed one touch to finish.

Spurs responded. Johnson forced Sels into a top stop and Son went close with a free-kick. Johnson forced the Forest keeper into another low save in the second half, while Dominic Solanke saw efforts blocked. But for all of the ball Spurs had, they failed to make anything of it.

Forest’s win pushes them up to third, while for the north Londoners, the situation is getting more dire by the day.

Spence’s late second yellow card rules him out of the Wolves game in three days time, while Radu Dragusin hobbled off injured; leaving Yves Bissouma and Archie Gray as makeshift centre-backs. Postecoglou will be praying fourth choice centre-back Ben Davies recovers in time to take a berth in what is a must win fixture.

Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Yates, Anderson (Ward-Prowse 82) Elanga (Morata 74, Gibbs-White (Jota 83), Hudson-Odoi (Sosa 87) Wood 6 (Awoniyi 87)
Substitutes not used: Miguel, Awoniyi, Toffolo, Moreno, Boly

Tottenham: Forster, Spence, Dragusin, (Bissouma 87), Gray, Udogie (Porro 81), Kulusevski, Bentancur (Bergvall 64), Sarr (Maddison 64) Johnson, Solanke, Son (Werner 81)
Substitutes not used: Austin, Reguilon, Bissouma, Lankshear, Olusesi