Ange Postecoglou insists Tottenham relegation talk was 'hysteria' as resurgence continues | OneFootball

Spurs up to 12th as Ipswich thrashing made it three successive Premier League wins to lift the mood

All smiles: Tottenham are finally gathering some momentum after a torrid run

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Head coach Ange Postecoglou says talk of Tottenham being dragged into a relegation battle was "hysteria" and believes his revitalised squad can push up the table after Saturday's 4-1 win over Ipswich.

Postecoglou was asked in January whether his struggling side were in danger of relegation after a run of one win in 11 matches but the Australian says the notion was always "ridiculous" and designed to pile more pressure on himself and the club.

"It goes to show you how ridiculous a notion it was to start with," said Postecoglou, when asked if Spurs could now breathe easily following the win over the Tractor Boys.

"People saying we're safe with 12 games to go, and people are actually talking about it. That's the hysteria. And that's all framed around putting pressure on me and the club.

"I get that, when you're in that position you've got to accept that. We always had the Villa FA Cup game as a marker for us. We've got to get to that space as best we could.

"We obviously didn't get the outcomes we wanted during that time. But not through a lack of will or effort from the players.

"That was always my primary concern, to protect them and support them, because they gave everything during that period. Now they've got some help, they've got some rest.

"We're not happy where we are in the league, obviously, it's unacceptable. But we've got an opportunity to address that."

Spurs had clear weeks ahead of the wins over Manchester United and Ipswich, while four players returned from injury against the Red Devils. Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson, who scored twice in the first half, were back in the XI in Suffolk.

"We've certainly benefited from having a couple of midweeks off for sure," Postecoglou continued. "That's coincided with getting a few players back. You saw today we were able to rest a couple of players in Pedro [Porro] and Madders [James Maddison]. I can make substitutions and the players coming on can make a difference.

"We're certainly in a good space of using these two weeks as well as we could to re-energise the team and I think it is. We've still got some significant players out. We've got [Dominic] Solanke, Richarlison, [Cristian] Romero, [Micky] van de Ven, Ben Davies, he's out today. They're all still to come back.

"I just feel like we've got a really good opportunity in these next 10 days to be well equipped for what's ahead. What's ahead is obviously Europe but also an opportunity to address our league position which is obviously not good enough."

Johnson twice finished from Heung-min Son crosses to put Spurs in control inside half an hour but Omari Hutchinson halved the deficit before the interval from Jack Clarke's cut-back.

Ipswich had a leveller from Luke Woolfenden ruled out for offside before Djed Spence's strike deflected off the substitute to restore Spurs' two-goal advantage.

Dejan Kulusevski scored a fourth on the break, and Postecoglou was full of praise for his players, including centre-backs Kevin Danso and Archie Gray.

"Sonny was unplayable in the first half," the head coach said. "So good to get Brennan back in those areas where he's always a threat. All four of our goals were quality goals. We had to do the hard things but the fruits of that labour was that our front-third play was super, exciting and clinical.

"Brennan's really good for us. We don't really have another front-third player like him. He just knows when to arrive at the right time. He's really clinical. It's just great to get him back and get him 60 minutes of football. He's missed a lot of football. I'm sure he'll feel good after today.

"[Kevin's] been great for us since he came in. He's really taken to the club, taken to the group of players, taken on the challenge. It's not easy when you're coming into a new club, and we're asking him to come in and almost be a senior member.

"We still had three teenagers out there starting today, and a fourth coming on. It's still a really young team. I think Kevin's been a super addition for us.

"[Archie's] handled everything thrown at him really well. I just felt today, we kind of knew, [Liam] Delap's a handful, I just felt putting Archie in, he's a right-sided player, putting him on the right side.

"Kevin's a bit more experienced. I wanted to see how Kevin handled the left-hand side. Because that's an area where we may need him during this run-in. And I thought both of them handled it well."