Ange Postecoglou praises Tottenham Hotspur's 'relentlessness' as team avoid shock exit in EFL Cup against Coventry City

Ange Postecoglou praised the attitude of his Tottenham team and was pleased to see their “relentlessness” return as they scored two late goals to avoid an EFL Cup upset against Coventry.

The Championship side led 1-0 until Djed Spence struck an equaliser with just two minutes of normal time to play.

Brennan Johnson then finished calmly on the break to snatch a 2-1 win in added time and secure Spurs’ progress to the fourth round of the competition.

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The win came off the back of successive defeats in the Premier League, with Postecoglou’s side only having one win to their name in the top flight so far this season.

“We had to work really, really hard just to stay in the game and obviously going a goal behind makes it even more challenging,” Postecoglou said following the match.

“At the end there we showed some real spirit and character, which is probably what's been missing in the first four games.

“We've had the performance, but we haven't had that relentlessness to get a result. You sense that in the last ten minutes, we got real belief out of that, and hopefully that's a good sign moving forward."

Aside from a 4-0 thrashing at home to Everton, it has been a largely frustrating start to the new campaign for Tottenham.

An uninspiring 1-1 draw at Leicester opened their Premier League season, while they lost to Newcastle and north London rivals Arsenal in their two outings ahead of their trip to Coventry.

“I don't think there are quick fixes or easy turnarounds in things but I thought tonight we showed a lot of what we had last year,” Postecoglou said.

“Last year we showed a lot of character and spirit to win games of football. We hung in games, got a lot of late winners and I felt the first four games (this season) the performances were probably lacking that a bit.

'We are really close' - Postecoglou happy with progress Tottenham are making

“So, the fact we did it tonight and in the manner we did, hopefully it shows the lads if we can perform at the levels we have been in the league, add that little bit of relentlessness and drive to win games, then it will certainly help us."

From the side that lost to Arsenal, Postecoglou made eight changes to his starting line-up in Coventry.

With a busy schedule ahead, which includes the start of their Europa League campaign next week, Postecoglou believes it is vital to keep a large selection of players match fit.

“What I've always done is back my decisions in critical times to always do what I feel is best, and if it doesn't work out, I can live with that.

“I'm certainly not going to jeopardise what we're trying to build here by doing something that's going make me look like I'm in a safer position. So, we're always going to play these guys because we've got Europe starting next week.

“The last thing I want to do is throw guys in out of necessity. We need to get game time and tonight, some key players for us got some good minutes that means that when we do need to make changes moving forward, they've already played and they're ready to go."

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