Ange Postecoglou has hit out at critics of his Tottenham side's defending and has called for help for Dominic Solanke so the striker can continue to impress.

Spurs make their way to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal on Wednesday night in the latest north London derby and despite criticism over the team's defending this season - albeit with a makeshift backline for much of it - Tottenham will enter the match having conceded fewer goals away from home - nine - than any other side in the Premier League.

When Postecoglou was asked how he had achieved that, the Australian took it as a chance to hit back at the flak that he and his players have received this season.

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"You don’t want to hear my explanation, you’d rather hear that I don’t like defending, we’re open, that we have this ridiculously high line, that we get torn apart in every game. That’s the narrative," said the 59-year-old. "Considering the challenges we’ve had I think our defending this year has been very good. We’ve been blown away in a couple of games, Liverpool significantly, Chelsea, but aside from that even the losses we’ve had they were only by a goal in very tight games.

"I think it’s been a collective approach of us working hard defensively. What's let us down is just moments in games. We’ve lost focus. Even games when we’ve defended really well we’ve switched off at key moments and it’s really cost us, whether that’s home or away.

"That’s the area we need to eradicate, but Toni is the fourth keeper we’ve used this year. We’ve had I don’t know how many different back fours. Anyone will tell you cohesion and communication and understanding in defensive units is key and we haven’t had that. Considering all that, for the most part our defensive set up has worked, mainly because of how hard the team works as a unit. It’s not just about the back four, because we do work so hard we make it difficult for oppositions to create a lot against us."

He added: "It doesn’t fit the narrative, that I’m just one dimensional and pretty simple in my approach. It’s much easier to say I don’t care about defending, set-pieces, and we don’t work on defending, it doesn’t fit that narrative.

"I do know that to have success you need to be strong defensively. The majority of our work is what we do when we don’t have the ball. That doesn’t mean defending, that means pressing the opposition really aggressively so we get the ball higher up and create more chances. It’s still about scoring goals. We work hard on that aspect of the game."

Tottenham have also improved on their set piece defending this season, an aspect that will certainly be put to the test by Arsenal this week.

"It’s the evolution of the team. Last year, people were pretty simplistic in their outlook when I spoke about set pieces, that I didn’t care about set pieces and we didn’t have a set pieces coach so we didn’t work on them," he said. "We haven’t put more emphasis on it, we’ve changed a few things around the way we’re defending and it’s working really well for us this season.

"We’ve changed our set-up a little bit, the players have embraced that and for the most part it’s been really good. When we played them at our place they scored a good goal and that was the difference. They've done that to a lot of teams but for the most part we handled the set pieces well and we will have to again. They’ve got good delivery which is always difficult no matter what your set up is. Declan Rice delivers a great corner and they’ve got some big guys so we’ve got to be ready for it."

It will be on new goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky to keep Arsenal out and be strong from set pieces and the 21-year-old has received a good introduction to the different kinds of English set piece attacks against Liverpool and non-league Tamworth in the days since his £12.5million move from Slavia Prague.

"It’s a different challenge but it’s more to do with mindset in that he’s prepared to embrace that challenge, and the challenge we found in the last game when we found out just how strong they are on offensive set pieces and the players they’ve got in terms of both delivery and execution," said Postecoglou.

"You need to be well organised but you also need your goalkeeper to play a pivotal role. So far what I’ve seen of him he’s embraced those challenges. It’s not easy going to a place like Tamworth and they’re throwing balls literally under the crossbar and you’ve got about 20 bodies around you, and as much as it’s about technical ability its more about mindset and tackling that and he didn’t shy away from it.

"That really helped us because it gives confidence to the players around him because they know if it’s in his area he’s going to come for it and they can focus on their job."

The Tottenham players have looked notably more confident around the young Czech stopper not only from set pieces but also in his ability with the ball at his feet in tight situations.

"It happens with almost every new player but particularly a key position like goalkeeper. It does give some comfort to the players around him if they see he’s handling it well. It means they can then focus on their own job and be a lot more clear-headed," said Postecoglou.

"If he was struggling to adapt to the way we want to play or challenges... We prepared for Tamworth and what they were going to do, we knew every time they had a throw-in in our half it was going to come in the box and how we’d want to deal with it. That’s great in theory but then you have to go do it.

"When he came out and dealt with the first two and caught them, the players around saw that he’s got this. 'If he’s got this, I’m going to make sure.' If he didn’t and there was uncertainty there it tends to filter through the whole team."

He added: "It’s a more pivotal role [in goal]. You understand the consequences of a goalkeeper not feeling comfortable because he’s usually required in key moments. As an outfield player, yes there are key moments, but there are also parts of the game where you can settle into it and find his feet and work his way through any issues. Whereas goalkeepers for the most part whenever he’s involved, whether with or without the ball, it’s a key moment. His ability to fit in really quickly has helped us enormously."

One even younger player who did not play in the derby against Arsenal at home this season but has been impressing lately is Lucas Bergvall. The 18-year-old Swede scored the winning goal against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg and is pushing to start again against Arsenal on Wednesday.

It was put to Postecoglou that the teenager's driving runs through the midfield were somewhat reminiscent of Jude Bellingham's forays forward from deep.

“Hard to say. It’s always hard comparing players. He does seem to have that unique trait of being able to play those different roles in midfield," said the Spurs boss. "Usually, midfielders will tend to be one or the other, but he seems to cover the defensive side of the game, have the technical ability to dictate tempos but also have the running capacity to break lines.

"I think he’s got goals in him as well. He scored his first one but from what we’ve seen in training, he’s a good finisher. That’s the exciting bit. We’ve got to temper that with the fact that he’s 18 and still got a lot to learn, but from my perspective, that’s exciting. The fact that there’s a few players in this team that are multifunctional in that way, it just gives you great scope for what we’re trying to create moving forward."

Arsenal are looking to sign a new striker to bolster Mikel Arteta's team and it was Spurs who made the biggest move of the Premier League summer transfer window when they spent £65million on a forward in the shape of Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth.

The 27-year-old has started to fill the huge hole left by Harry Kane's departure to Bayern Munich 18 months ago and Postecoglou believes that one thing will further help that - having previously said he would like a new forward to arrive alongside the return of Richarlison from injury.

"If we can get him some help, yeah [he will continue to fill the Kane gap]," he said of Solanke. "Dom has just been outstanding in the way he’s carried the frontline for us during this period. With the way we play, we put a lot of demands on that position. It’s not just him standing up there scoring goals, it’s working hard for the team.

"I really think if Richy was available, I think [Dom)] would have been able to contribute even greater for us in terms of his output in goals. I really love what he brings to us as a team from a football perspective, from a cultural perspective. The only growth we’ve seen in recent times is him and Deki becoming on-field leaders in the team.

"With Dom being a new player, it probably would have been easier for him to slip in and do his job but he’s taken on the responsibility of helping the whole team. He’s been great for us. I really feel there is more to him and his game. We’ll be able to get more out of him if we can him some help."

So with Arsenal needing a striker and other clubs also looking for one, was Postecoglou surprised there wasn't more competition for a forward who netted 21 goals last season and already has 11 this campaign for Spurs plus six assists?

"I don’t know who else was in for him. I’m just glad we got him," he said. "In terms of outlay, if you're trying to sign a striker with proven pedigree these days, it’s pretty hard not to spend. Clubs know how difficult it is to get those types.

"For me, Dom was proven in that sometimes when you look at players in other leagues, you think how are they going to do it in the Premier League? But he had already done it in the Premier League. He’s shown some real growth in his time at Bournemouth. Nothing is a sure thing, but I really thought he was a real safe bet for us.

"We knew what we were getting. We were getting a proven Premier League striker who was going to fit into our style of play which is the most important thing, but even in terms of what I was hoping for, he’s exceeded that in my mind."

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