Pressure eases on Postecoglou as Tottenham avoid 'car crash'

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou fired back at his critics as his side recovered from consecutive cup exits to beat Manchester United 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Australian has been under intense pressure with his injury-hit team languishing in the lower reaches of the league table and bowing out of both domestic cups last week.

A pre-match protest by fans frustrated by Chairman Daniel Levy's running of the club underlined the malaise at Tottenham, but James Maddison's winner lightened the mood as Spurs did the league double over United for the first time since 1989-90.

"Everyone likes an impending car crash. I am sure we had a lot of people willing that scenario on. I know how hard these players have worked," Postecoglou, whose side won a home league game for the first time since November 3, told Sky Sports.

"Our training was better and I was confident that we would put in a good shift. The focus is still on trying to win games.

"In the background we are doing it our own way. We are looking into ways we can do things better."

Postecoglou has pointed to a crippling injury list this season which has deprived him of most of the first team.

They were still without the likes of defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven plus striker Dominic Solanke on Sunday but Tottenham were boosted by the return of Maddison and Italy goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to the starting line-up.

With Brennan Johnson, Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert back on the bench after returning to fitness, Postecoglou can maybe see some light at the end of the tunnel at last.

"It does make a massive difference. Getting guys like Vic and Madders contributing straight away, you can see the quality they have and the presence they have," Postecoglou said.

"It might take them one or two games to get up to speed, but the fact we have them available, yeah, it's an enormous boost for us. They're quality players.

"We can play better definitely, but when we get some boys up to speed we can start growing into it."

The win moved Spurs above United into 12th spot with 30 points from 25 games, a point above the 15th-placed visitors.