Ange Postecoglou held a Christmas Eve press conference ahead of Tottenham's trip to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Boxing Day and we've got a full transcript from it.

Spurs will make the trip to the City Ground to face their former boss Nuno Espirito Santo and a Forest side flying high in fourth place. The Portuguese spent a brief spell at Tottenham in 2021 before the club ended his tenure just four months into the season.

Postecoglou's Spurs team followed up back-to-back victories against Southampton and Manchester United with a chaotic 6-3 defeat on Sunday at home to Liverpool, with nine players out and unavailable. It leaves the north London side in the Carabao Cup semi-finals and still in the Europa League but quickly needing to improve on a poor 11th place position in the Premier League table.

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Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou. Here's the full transcript from the Spurs head coach's press conference.

What's the latest fitness news?

From the [Liverpool] game, as far as I’m aware no issues. Destiny [Udogie] was on the bench, obviously wasn’t 100% but should be right for the next game. [Rodrigo] Bentancur is available after his suspension. That’s kind of it at the moment.

Your sides averaged six shots on target per game - the best in Premier League - and your goal difference is only bettered by top three, yet your 11th. Does that feel unlucky?

No I don’t think you feel unlucky. Over the course of a season you’d like to think it all evens out. There are circumstances to where we’re at in terms of position in the table. A lot of that is down to inconsistency in performances, sometimes inconsistency in games, but also inconsistency in the kind of team we can put out there. All those things have damaged our ability to get into a stronger position in the league. But, as you said, and I’ve said all along, I still think there’s growth in the team. I still think there’s positive things within what we’re doing. Notwithstanding that we need to improve our position.

You mentioned the inconsistency of the players you've been able to put out. It's no secret that you've struggled with injuries this year. Are you considering January moves as reinforcement?

I think, yeah, reinforcement. Like I said a while ago, we've been planning. A lot of it was going to be around where we're at around this time. Fair to say we're still a little bit short in a couple of areas and we need to reinforce. But January's trickier in terms of what sort of players you can bring in. For us, ideal — for any club, I guess — you want to bring in people who are going to make you stronger. I think the fact that, obviously, we're still in the Carabao Cup semi-final, still got Europe, FA Cup, we're in all the competitions, it's not like our schedule's going to ease up at any stage. So I think it makes sense. We will try and reinforce where and what number we'll have to wait and see.

How big a boost is it to have Rodrigo Bentancur back?

Yeah, it's good to have him back. He's been working hard at training. In terms of Boxing Day, we'll see. But certainly just to have an extra body. I think what the players have had to deal with, the core group of players over the last sort of three weeks or so, has been very, very demanding on them. Most of them have got through it pretty well, in terms of not getting any more injuries, thankfully for us. But it'll be nice to have just some ability to rotate some players and even make substitutions in games that hopefully will help us.

Have you seen a reaction from the players to Sunday’s defeat?

I still feel like the players, and I see, that they have still got real belief in what we are doing. It is difficult because it is a tough day for the supporters, the players and for all the people who work so hard at the club. From my perspective I take responsibility for that because I am the one that is charting this course for us. It’s all hopefully for a greater purpose.

What I try and sort of reiterate is that it's all hopefully for a greater purpose. And, again, that's my ultimate responsibility is to try and bring success to the club. But you understand in the meantime, you know, it's not nice seeing the players out there doing everything in their power to try and get a result. But obviously with the situation we're in there are limits to what they can do. So you feel, I certainly feel that responsibility. But as disappointed as they are, they're still very, very determined to continue.

It's the first time you have lost by more than one goal, does that give you belief you can compete with anyone?

I don't think there's any doubt we can challenge most of the teams in the league. I think we've shown that already. Look, I said after the game, Liverpool were too good for us. They're a very good team. They're in great form. They're in a great moment in terms of where they're at right now.

They're in a sort of sweet spot of great form, very settled, all their players healthy. So they're probably in the best position they've been and fair to say we're not. And a combination of that and we were just, we weren't anywhere near the level we needed to be to try and compete with the best team in the league. So you accept that. It doesn't feel nice, but you accept where you're at. And the goal is to bridge that gap.

Have you been impressed by Nottingham Forest’s improvement under Nuno?

Absolutely, even last year, I think from when Nuno took over. I think when they went up to the Premier League, it seemed like there was a lot of transfer activity at Nottingham. I think there needed to be, but within that you could tell they had recruited some quality. It was just a matter of allowing that to sort of settle in and I guess finding the right way forward in terms of how they play. And since Nuno's got in from the back end last year, you could tell that, you know, they were all sort of now playing in a way I think that suited them. And the team's growing all the time. They've got some quality players in there and they're having a really good season. Particularly at their place, it's going to be a great challenge for us.

Is it fair to say you were angry at the questioning after Sunday's defeat?

No, I wasn't angry. I was kind of, like I said, you know, you've just had a heavy defeat. And I said I take responsibility for that because I see what effect that has on everyone involved with the football club. So that sort of weighs heavily on you. But I don't think there are many managers who bounce into interviews after being beaten and sort of feel cheery about it. Yeah, I mean, fair to say I'm getting tired of the same questions and answering the same way. I just think it's almost like people want to sort of poke the bear to see if I react. And obviously after a loss, it's a lot easier for people to get a reaction out of me.

The one thing you have suffered more than maybe some other clubs as well is injuries this season. A lot of other clubs are now having key players going down injured. Is it time for the authorities to look at how often players are asked to play?

Yeah, look, I think I've said before that's something that authorities need to look at. As you said, I think it's across the board. Really apart from maybe Liverpool, everyone else has had fairly significant injuries, us more than most, but most clubs have been affected. I think it's why the Premier League is pretty tight apart from Liverpool, to be honest.

I think it comes down to either the fixturing at some point needs to ease, whether that happens or not. I'm not too optimistic about it because it seems like every year we're adding more tournaments. So I don't think that's really making an impact. It's either that or you increase squads and give opportunities to clubs that have bigger squads, because certainly the current workload for players is becoming increasingly difficult to manage.

Arne Slot and Nuno Espirito Santo have said plenty of complimentary things about you. How do you see how Nuno has done at Forrest? Do you know much about Nuno? Have you met him much?

No, I followed Nuno's career for quite a while. He had a couple of my players, Australian players at times, in his teams. I've got great admiration for him because he went through a similarly tough time where people just liked to write people off. Even though he'd done a great job at Wolves, he obviously came here and it didn't work out for him, which just happens. But he's shown he's a top manager and as I said, he's doing a fantastic job at Forest.

You've got to think, the last couple of years, the last few years, the teams that have come up have really struggled. Forest have thrived. They're one of the few that have really thrived since they've gone up. Great credit goes to him and the way he's managing. I think he's a good guy. I've only come across him a couple of times. You get the sense of what kind of people they are. He's a good guy, but he's a top manager.

You've been so proud of your players and the effort they've put in as such a small group, as a manager, how do you balance that out with the need to also be critical of times when they make mistakes?

You're never critical of mistakes because mistakes are part of being a human being and being a footballer. So I'm not critical of mistakes at all. To me, it's about intent. It's about endeavour. If players are trying to do the right thing and it's not working out, you've just got to keep helping them.

I can't be critical of this group of players at the moment in any sense. I think it would be unfair for anyone to because what they're doing is they're giving absolute maximum effort. That's backed up by the physical parameters you put against what they're doing. They're trying to do it in the way that I'm asking them to.

So how can I be critical of that? I think that would be hypocritical of me. The players are doing their part. They're doing it to the maximum of their ability and it's a credit to them. I still think in the long term that's going to hold us in good stead with the growth they're going to have because if they can maintain belief through this tough period, then we'll hit smoother waters. We'll get to a better place and I think it's going to make them better equipped to handle what's ahead.

What was wrong with Destiny?

He was just a bit sore from the game before. Obviously he had a bit of a quad issue after the Southampton game. He trained but wasn’t feeling 100 per cent and we can’t afford any more injuries. In a normal situation, you might have risked him and said he felt pretty good, but if I get one more player down, we’re at bare bones anyway, so it just felt it was more prudent to not use him if not required.

Archie Gray has adapted so well, could centre-back end up being his position?

It depends. It will depend kind of on Archie and how he develops. He is growing all the time and again what he is doing at the age of 18 in the Premier League, toughest league in the world, like I said that is why I am really proud of the players and the efforts they’re putting in. They are not seeking or wanting excuses. They are disappointed with the way things went on the weekend, but for us, the growth we’re going to get from players like Archie and others is enormous.

How do you balance in January getting players you want in early because you're so short on numbers, but also making sure they are the right players?

Yeah that is the balancing act. You don’t just want to panic and bring in anybody that you don’t think will help our cause in the back half of the year, but I think we’ve already shown we are pretty methodical and prudent about our work. We’ll make sure we’ll bring somebody in who is going to help us.

Brennan Johnson has had a productive season but is out of team – what more do you want to see from him?

Nothing more. He has to just keep doing what he is doing. Obviously we have the balance of the team and we’ve had Deki there and Deki has done really well, scored in the last five games. It is just the balance of the team. Part of it is again, we don’t have a lot of options up there and it is about managing that load. We’re already overburdening a couple of players in that area, so it is good to have Brennan who we are managing through this period and he’ll play significant minutes.

How determined is Rodrigo Bentancur to help the team after sitting through the last seven domestic games and seen what the squad has gone through?

Yeah but I think that’s the case for all, even the injured guys. They are around the group all the team and they want to help, they want to contribute. They know we’re in a tough moment and for Rodrigo, it has been even more frustrating because it’s not an injury which has kept him out. As I’ve said, he made a mistake, served his punishment now and wants to help the team.

What does Christmas Day look like for you? Are your family here or back in Australia?

No, it’s a family tradition mate that I’m on my own. The family is in a warmer climate in Australia with family and we have a couple of young boys so it’s important they are around family at this time. I will give them a call in the morning and then get on about my day.

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