Presser points | Spurs vs Brentford | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media ahead of our Premier League clash against Brentford at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday (3pm UK).

Here's what he had to say...

Team news

First up, Ange was asked for the latest team news...

Ange: "Wilson doesn’t look good, we are still waiting for it (hamstring) to settle down and get all the information but he will definitely be out for the next period. Bissouma trained today so he should be available for tomorrow. Timo is okay. He recovered okay. Everyone else from the game who didn’t train last week is good."

Pressure

Ange was asked if one win from four at the start of this season increases the pressure...

Ange: "It doesn’t change. It is the same whether you win the first four. I hate to think people go into this game thinking you could lose it. You try to win every game. We are at home. We have also played well in those first four games. That’s the first thing. We need to perform as we have been. As I said in the league, performances have been really consistent in terms of dominating games but we haven’t really got a reward for our dominance and that’s the area we are kind of still trying to focus on in that front third to make sure we get rewards for our good play."

Getting busy

With seven games in three competitions in 21 days in this current period, Ange was asked how important this spell is...

Ange: "I think that is going to be our period probably until the end of January so we kind of planned for that. This is probably the shortest in terms of turn around because it is a Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday. Most of the others are Sunday, Thursday, Sunday for the most part. Probably a day less in this little three game stretch. The good thing is we got some game time into some guys on Wednesday night who hadn't played for quite a while. They are ready and should be available if we require them. That’s going to be key for us, the ability to bring guys in who are fresh but also have played recently."

Brentford

Ange was asked about the challenge Thomas Frank's side bring to N17, and how important it is to get a result to bring back the feel-good factor...

How big a challenge is Brentford and how good is Thomas Frank?

Ange: "A great challenge. Thomas has turned them into a really difficult and challenging team for everyone in the league. I saw them last week against City, I thought they played really well, took the game to City. It’s always a challenge, but that’s the Premier League. I don’t think there’s any games you go into thinking they’re going to be any easier than any others. We’ll have to be ready for Brentford tomorrow, but we are at home and we’ve just got to make sure we continue with our strong performances in the league but turn those performances into results."

How important is it to get a result and regain the feel-good-factor of last season?

Ange: "I just think if you start thinking in those terms, you miss the priorities of what you need to do to stay competitive in this league. Every week is a challenge. If you had have got four wins so far - which we could have, with the performances - dropping a game tomorrow wouldn’t have made us feel any better. The challenge is always the same. That’s the beauty of the competition we’re in; every week you’ve got to be up for it, and we’ve got to make sure we do that tomorrow."

Dominic Solanke

Ange was asked a number of questions on Dominic Solanke - here they are...

On Solanke, what have you made of how he’s settled in?

Ange: "He’s settled in really well. There’s plenty more to come from him… because he got injured! He’s only played two-and-a-bit games for us. He just needs to get some games under his belt. But what I’ve seen in the games he has played, he’s going to be a real asset for us. I’ve got no doubt he’ll be a great contributor."

How disruptive was Solanke's injury in terms of getting that front three play to come together?

Ange: "Well it has on the back of Richy not being available either. We working with the idea that we thought Richy would be available round one and he had the setback which has put him out. Yeah, that hasn't helped us because the whole plan was to have two really robust strikers who really give us a threat up front. With both of them out it's made it a bit difficult and we've had to juggle things a little bit. Played Sonny through there, Deki through there so it hasn't been smooth, but I'm hoping that's behind us now."

Solanke came in for big fee - is that an adjustment he will have to make and need to deal with?

Ange: "I don't know because people are just so quick to judge, mate. It's a small sample. The guy has played less than two games for us. If he has gone 15 games without a goal then I can answer that question or 15 games where he hasn't contributed, but I just think take a breath. Do a bit of yoga. Think about the world for a second and make an assessment after that. We don't have to rush to make judgement all the time because the alternative is he may have got off to a great start, he is fit, scored in all four games, is flying and then he goes through a patch like all strikers where he doesn't score. I just don't look at those things. What I look at is he has come in, fitted really well and quite logically has picked up an injury that has disrupted the way he wanted to start his career, but he's still got plenty of time for that."

Do you still sense Dom is calm despite being a few weeks without a goal or have you noticed him being anxious about getting his first goal?

Ange: "Like I said, he has just played a couple of games. Not even four games. No, I haven't sensed that. I don't sense that (anxiety). In his mind, I think he just wants to be in a good physical condition so he can contribute. That is where he is at and the space we want him in. Hopefully he gets a bit of confidence out of the game time he got during the week and builds on that tomorrow. I am sure as the season goes on he will be a real strong contributor for us."