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The Black Cats will be looking to continue their unbeaten run after an impressive goalless draw against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side on New Year's Day.

Regis Le Bris’ team are now four games unbeaten, drawing their last three games, despite losing seven players to the African Cup of Nations.

Spurs themselves have started 2026 unbeaten following a goalless draw at Brentford; this came off the back of a 1-0 away win against Crystal Palace to end 2025.

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur

Lucas Bergvall is a doubt ahead of Sunday’s game, but Thomas Frank confirmed Dominic Solanke is getting closer to full fitness and expects to have the England striker back in contention by the end of January.

James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Destiny Udogie all remain sidelined, and Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr are still on international duty at the African Cup of Nations.

Xavi Simons is serving the final game of his three-match ban following his red card against Liverpool.

Sunderland

Defender Dan Ballard is expected to be back in contention after missing the last two games with an ankle injury.

Habib Diarra, Bertrand Traore, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku and Reinildo Mandava all remain at the African Cup of Nations with their respective countries.

Likely Line-ups

Tottenham Hotspur

Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van De Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Bentancur, Gray; Kudus, Odobert, Richarlison

Sunderland

Roefs; Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Cirkin; Xhaka ©, Geertruida; Mayenda, Le Fee, Mundle; Brobbey

Key Players

Sunderland – Enzo Le Fee

The French attacking midfielder has been flying under the radar for Sunderland this season.

While Granit Xhaka deservedly receives most of the plaudits for the success of Le Bris’ team, Le Fee himself has been instrumental.

The Former Roma midfielder has two goals and three assists to his name so far this season and delivered another impressive performance against Manchester City on Thursday.

Le Fee completed 80% of his 41 passes, created two chances, made four tackles, five interceptions, three recoveries, and won eight of his 10 duels.

Sunderland’s counter attacks seemed to flow through Le Fee against City, and the same will be required again from the Frenchman on Sunday if the Black Cats are to come away from Spurs with a result.

Tottenham Hotspur – Mohammed Kudus

Kudus has been an important part of Frank’s team since joining from West Ham in the summer.

His two goals and five assists makes him second among all Spurs players this season behind Richarlison.

However, Kudus hasn’t registered a goal or assist in his last four games and only has one goal and one assist in his last 10 Premier League games.

If Spurs are to unlock Sunderland’s stingy defence, then Kudus could be the key.

Spurs will need a big game from their Ghanaian winger against a side that has only conceded once in their last four games and ranks third for goals conceded behind Arsenal and Manchester City.

Kudus ranks seventh in the Premier League for successful dribbles per 90 and could prove to be a tough task for former Spurs player Dennis Cirkin, who has only played two times this season.

Match Details

Where is the match being played?

The match will take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

What time is the match?

Kick-off is scheduled for 15:00 GMT on Sunday 4th January 2026.

How can I watch?

It was an iconic moment in modern Tottenham history. Brennan Johnson gets on the end of a Pape Matar Sarr cross and scrambles the ball over the line at San Mames.

It put Spurs 1-0 ahead of Manchester United in the Europa League final and, after a less than iconic next forty-five minutes, it proved to be the winner.

Johnson’s 18th goal of the season claimed Tottenham’s first piece of silverware in 17 years. Additionally, and arguably more importantly, he was named VAVEL’s Tottenham Player of the Season.

Strangely enough, given the calibre of such an individual campaign, it is not a surprise to see that only eight months later he is leaving North London for pastures new, with Crystal Palace paying a club record £35 million for his services.

Johnson has been out of favour under new head coach Thomas Frank and combining that with the desperately required squad depth south of the Thames, such a move looks cut and dry for all parties.

An instinctual winger

Johnson is not a creative forward. His best times at Spurs came during Ange Postecoglou’s tenure, where he fashioned himself out as a clinical wide player, often darting in the box to finish off moves.

Every one of his 18 efforts last season came inside the box and it owed a tremendous amount to his excellent movement and knack for snapshot finishes.

As Frank favoured Mohammed Kudus’ ball carrying abilities on the right-hand side, Johnson has found it difficult to find his way into the eleven.

He has popped up on the left on occasion, though, being right-footed, it is harder work as it forces him to create. Although he has flashes of quality when on the ball, it is not his forte.

Johnson has routinely been made a scapegoat for poor Spurs performances, which is doubly unfortunate when taking his recent comments into account.

"I think I always feel like I have a point to prove. I'm someone who can be quite tough on himself. I just always want to go out and perform my best."

His lack of involvement in build-up play was frustrating at times to Spurs fans. However, this problem was mainly exacerbated by Tottenham failing to be as much of a possession-dominant side as they would like to be.

The recent fuss over Mohamed Salah’s role at Liverpool has called into question players that do not keep themselves busy with touches in midfield or press intensely, but the upside of the potential goal involvements should not be sniffed at.

With Wales, Johnson has been in and out of Craig Bellamy’s side as he struggled to offer the creativity on the wings as well as not making enough of a case to be deployed as a striker when given the chance.

However, his most recent display in a 7-1 win over North Macedonia showcased the very best of Johnson.

He was hungry, performing valiantly without the ball and constantly bright with it as his feet. This was a match the Dragons needed to win to keep any chance of reaching the 2026 World Cup and Johnson met the occasion with flying colours.

During his recent dip in on-pitch activity, it showed that he was still capable of delivering energetic performances out of possession in particular. He will have to up his diligence in delivering consistency in that regard, but playing in a team that regularly asks him to do so will aid that.

Oftentimes with Wales, however, he is tasked with playing far out wide, since Bellamy prefers patient build-up and have his wingers stretch play. As stated, this is not Johnson’s ideal role and so the proposition of being a more narrow lite number 10 under Oliver Glasner is intriguing.

Because while the 24-year-old is not necessarily accomplished at close control dribbling, his positioning enables him to find and exploit space even in cramped quarters.

Glasner could get the best out of him

Maintaining possession is not something he will have to worry about at his new club.

Instead, enjoying the pockets, or half spaces, on the break and near the box is something Glasner will likely treat him to, especially with marauding full-backs taking up the widest spaces.

As Postecoglou attested last season, these are the kinds of scenarios Johnson flourishes in:

"There have been times this season when his form has suffered because of the team more than anything else … Brennan becomes a really important player for us as we're a constant threat, breaking lines, making half-space runs.”

Palace rank 16th for average possession so far this season (43.4%). Furthermore, only Sunderland, West Ham, Brentford and Burnley have fewer total progressive carries than the Eagles.

Therefore, Johnson will not be asked to do something he is not adept at doing, leaving room for playing into his strengths. This could well give Johnson the platform to be a moments player again.

Glasner’s directness feeds into Johnson’s pace and quick decision-making, with a playmaker like Adam Wharton providing from midfield and Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell can setting up the kind of service from out wide.

Nathaniel Clyne has done admirably so far as the right wing-back in place of Munoz, it does mean Johnson will probably be asked to do more defending than if the Colombian was fully fit.

There may be some teething problems in fulfilling this as he gets up to speed, as there was with Ismaïla Sarr.

The Senegalese's success under Glasner could be a model for what Johnson needs to do in red and blue. One built on dogged work rate and making the most of few yet quality chances.

Glasner's track record of fashioning players into his mould means there is ample opportunity to learn and Johnson certainly has the tools to be able to meet expectations.

Thomas Frank reflected on a 0-0 draw for Tottenham against his former club Brentford.

Spurs have now kept clean sheets in successive Premier League fixtures (and London derbies to boot) with a goalless stalemate at the Gtech Community Stadium. The Bees are an impressive outfit on their turf, but worries about chance creation and offensive intent continue to follow the head coach.

“The positive is that we're going here against a very good home team that you need to respect with the results they've done where they're beating Liverpool, Man United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, drawing with Chelsea and keeping them on a low amount of chances. They had seven shots in total.

“I think that's a very, very strong defensive performance. I think the back four did excellent, the whole team did excellent, especially Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero did very well with Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade up there. So that's a positive.

“I think the amount of unforced errors is the biggest negative. That's the bit where you can make too many mistakes on unforced technical errors that then take out eight, nine good half-transitions where you're not getting into good positions and then when we were up there, lacked the cutting edge.

“I think if you as a team are not strong defensively and that's not the same as you can't play offensive football, it's just impossible to compete over a long season, impossible. If you want to end in the nice, good position you'd like to end in. Then of course the offensive part of it, you need to open up enough and do that. I think we still do that.

“Then there's another element, no matter what shape, offensive or defensive you are, you can't make the amount of unforced errors we do today. For example, or our last game against Crystal Palace, that's the bit we need to definitely see if we can improve. Then the next bit is you need to work on the offensive patterns and the structure and keep working very hard on that.

“Then the final bit is probably a little bit some key offensive players out for a game like this, for example. The ones we talked about a lot and then on top of that Xavi and Lucas. So probably that didn't help as well."

Thomas Frank engaged with the latest criticisms that have come his way after Tottenham drew 0-0 at Brentford, still looking for successive Premier League wins for the first time since August.

The Dane has set out to instil defensive discipline in his side, and he was happy to see Spurs keep successive clean sheets across two London derbies away from home. However, the lifelessness and lack of chance creation from his camp have become an all too regular sight for many supporters.

“It seemed like [the fans] were not too satisfied and it's fair when we don't hit that top performance overall, but it's double-sided because I think what we need to understand is the acknowledgement of the defensive side of the game, which we've done excellent today against a team that just scored three against Liverpool, three against Man United, so on and so on. The offensive part needs to be better.

“We need to play, it's not that we don't want to play offensive or attacking football. I just think when we're not on the top of the game we would like to be, we work very, very hard on that, but while you work hard on that you can't, if you struggle scoring goals, let's say that, or create enough chances, you can't open up too much because then you need to score too many goals. So, it's a fine balance.

“You'd prefer everyone is happy and we're winning 3-0. I think the understanding of where we are right now, as a team, and as a club. That's the transparent view of it. I think we have to play with Archie Gray as a 10 - or I decided to do that - we did a little bit different at the end of the game.

“That's just step by step, we do those things. I'm very confident we will make it fluent and better and scoring enough goals, but with the amount of games and limited training times and the right offensive players available, that's part of it, it's no problem.

“This league is so tight, just look at the results today and two days ago. So tight, so even, small margins that change games. So I think we put a lot of foundation work into those two performances and competitiveness that you need to have in the team. Then we need to add the next layers.

“It's not that we're not working on it. It is what it is. I know we'll get to where we want to go. Maybe not exactly where everyone wanted to be right now, but we'll get there."

Thomas Frank outlined his expectations of the showdown with Sunderland this weekend.

The Black Cats have exceeded expectations this Premier League campaign, staying undefeated through the first half of the season on their home turf at the Stadium of Light. Away from home, they have defeated Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, and now the men of Regis Le Bris hope for another successful trip to the capital. It is a challenge that the Tottenham head coach does not underestimate.

Indeed, Spurs still have the 17th worst record at their ground in the league, and after a dreary draw against Brentford in midweek, Frank knows he and his players have to produce a livelier display.

“We need to do everything we can to put an attacking, intense, front-footed performance out against Sunderland in two days' time. I'll do everything I can to make sure we do that. If we do that and get three points, it’s seven from three, which would be a very good output. So that's the aim.

“By the way, against the Sunderland team that’s done unbelievably well. And I know for a fact, because, when I say attitude, I'm confident in my own skillset, but also very humble about who I am, where we are and what we need to do.

“I know what we're facing tomorrow against Sunderland, because I've been there myself.

“I think they’ve done fantastically, very, very impressive, the first season in the Premier League. And also, as you say, we're changing a lot of players. They're very clear what they want to do.

Thomas Frank acknowledged the frustration shown by Tottenham fans after his side was booed off following a toothless display against Brentford.

The Danish manager would have aimed to pick up all three points on his return to his old stomping ground, but by the end of the night, Frank could consider himself lucky to escape with a point.

The Bees were by far the more positive team, while Tottenham struggled, not for the first time this season, to create anything meaningful, drawing a chorus of boos from the away fans after the full-time whistle.

"Yeah, I think it seemed like they were not too satisfied, and it's fair when we don't hit that top performance overall," he said.

"But I think it's double-sided because I think what we need to understand is the acknowledgement of the defensive side of the game, which we've done excellent today against a team that just scored three against Liverpool, three against Man United, so on and so on, but of course the offensive part needs to be better. There's no two ways about that.

"Of course we need to play, it's not that we don't want to play offensive or attacking football. I just think when we're not, how can you say, on the top of the game we would like to be, we work very, very hard on that, but while you work hard on that you can't, if you struggle scoring goals, let's say that, or create enough chances, you can't open up too much because then you need to score too many goals. So, it's a fine balance."

The result means that Tottenham have won just one of their last five away games, picking up five out of a possible fifteen points.

The difference in the reception given to Frank by the home fans and away fans was also a stark reminder of how much work the Dane still has to do to win over the Spurs faithful.

When asked if the supporters needed to be more understanding of the club's situation, Frank said: "That question is very difficult for me to answer, going off a few boos after the game, and as I say, I'm not really reading anything on social media, or articles or all that. I watch the team. I'm very aware that we are not where I want us to be, very aware.

"Yeah of course, you'd prefer everyone is happy and we're winning 3-0. I think the understanding of where we are right now, as a team, and as a club. That's the transparent view of it. I think we have to play with Archie as a 10 - or I decided to do that - we did a little bit different at the end of the game. That's just step by step, we do those things. I'm very confident we will make it fluent and better and scoring enough goals, but with the amount of games and limited training times and the right offensive players available, that's part of it, it's no problem."

Tottenham Hotspur do not like playing Liverpool, having lost to the Merseyside giants 84 times since records began. Even in the rare periods where the team in white has been more successful, Liverpool more often than not get the upper hand. All but the most blindly optimistic Spurs supporter would have felt a defeat inevitable.

Even sidestepping who the away side were in the last fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in 2025: Spurs are a side that loses most matches at home these days, Liverpool needed a win with two huge summer signings stuttering (enter Dr. Tottenham), and the Spurs board have this week briefed a vote of confidence in Thomas Frank - often the death knell to a manager's custodianship at any club.

Here are four things we learnt during the latest defeat at home.

The crowd are not to blame

Thomas Frank has made a lot of headlines recently with defensive comments when questions have rightfully arisen about his ability to arrest Spurs' decline (which, in fairness, is more than half a decade in the making). He has made catty comments about the situation he inherited from his predecessor, diminished the achievement of last seasons' Europa League win, and far worse, pointed the finger at the home support.

Having spent nearly 4 decades sacrificing large parts of my free time in the West Stand of each home ground in N17, I know that when the Spurs supporters feel disenchanted, the atmosphere becomes stale, passive aggressive, or outright hostile. This has only been exacerbated by the rising ticket prices correlating negatively with the least enjoyable side seen in these parts since David Pleat was last at the helm.

However, on this occasion, the home crowd were positive. They backed the players and, having actually seen a few decent attacking moves for the first time in eons, were willing the side on even at 2-0 down. Perhaps the dreadful refereeing performance helped create a siege mentality, or perhaps those in attendance didn't want to give their manager or Pedro Porro anywhere to look but themselves, but even Thomas Frank admitted that in those final stages the crowd almost "sucked the ball into the net".

Alas, it wasn't to be, and Spurs recorded their 5th league defeat in 9 home matches this season, a game punctuated with more perplexingly negative substitutions, more inexcusable mistakes from apparently seasoned international footballers, and more faltering from highly celebrated summer signings.

Being frank, Thomas, it might be that how this crowd expresses itself is quite irrelevant to what level of performance you can inspire.

The Spurs players are frustrated

This is a very unhappy collection of footballers. The disdain shown towards their own crowd with the strange half-time walk offs, van de Ven's constant fury against Slavia Prague and his petulance towards Frank against Chelsea, and several public sightings of disrespect from Djed Spence (often when substituted). The same Tottenham players who were on top of the world last May are now visibly outside their collective window of tolerance.

Today, this manifested in two completely avoidable red cards. The first came when Spurs sadly looked like they might be the better team on the day, with Xavi Simons, so desperate to show he can make it in this league, charging at a turning Virgil van Dijk and catching his international captain's ankle with his studs.

The resultant red card was very much a slow motion red card, there really wasn't much impact or recklessness. In fact, the victim was completely unpunished for a far worse example of this on Dominic Solanke last season.

However, I do wonder if Xavi Simons, playing well and in a side that wasn't so desperate for some fortune, would have been quite so aggressive in his approach. To me this was characteristic of a young player trying too hard. Similar to the 18-year-old Gareth Bale being sent off against Stoke once upon a time for a similarly tempestuous act.

Cristian Romero, on the other hand, was idiotic. He had just won a free kick from which Spurs might have equalised had they had their best header of the ball on the pitch; he was on a yellow card for his complaints about Hugo Ekitike's shove for the second Liverpool goal; he was right in front of the referee.

Of course Cristian Romero, in this situation, is going to flick he leg out to kick the player that has just fouled him. If Simons' red card came from desperation, Romero's came from bone idle stupidity.

Both were the behaviour of players frustrated by a season where the Spurs crowd's reverence for this team has turned to anger, the football has gone from poor to pointless, and the side is spinning on a carousel of defeat after defeat.

There is a reason Romero plays for Spurs

If it seems like the Argentinian centre-back is getting especially bad treatment, it's only because he's one of the biggest disappointments. There are plenty of Spurs players who have, and are, performing worse this season, but none with the same level of expectation on them. Romero is the captain. He is supposedly the best player and he has been made the club's highest earner with his recent new contract.

It is only fair to expect that in a time of crisis, he would be the player to stand up and drag the rest with him. That is was great captains do. Romero doesn't have the excuse of youth any more and he has been at Spurs since 2021.

He has won a World Cup in that time and is in the peak years of his career. If he has rightfully received plaudits for his heroics away to Newcastle, he needs admonishment for matches like this where he gifts the opposition two goals.

Do not pass straight out to the opposition press, for a start. And then, if you feel hands in your back as a cross comes in, be stronger. Once the ball hits the back of the net, you might get the free kick but you might not.

Prioritising doing your job and reading the flight of the ball over gamesmanship should be obvious. I would be more forgiving if it wasn't for the similar recent horror show against PSG, or if the cherry on this performance wasn't the already discussed sending off.

Romero has some games where he seems top class, but he is not consistent and he is running out of time to become consistent. Therefore, it can be concluded that he is not top class, he is ok - often dreadful and occasionally magnificent. At this point if he has a season where it all comes together and cuts this sloppiness out, I'd be inclined to chalk it up to a purple patch, an anomaly, rather than the real Romero.

If he needs the team to be on form so he can look the part, then he's just not as good as his PR team would have us think, and that is why he plays for Spurs instead of one of the giant clubs of world football. I'm inclined to suggest that Spurs should cash in before the rest of world football catches on, but his recent contract signing might just be because he didn't have a better option available than staying in North London.

If this seems rash or reactive, I'd just point out at at this time last season, Spurs had conceded fewer goals than they have now (even with the reputedly defensively clueless Ange Postecoglou in charge) and that was with Cristian Romero having missed 5 matches. Only one of those 5 saw Spurs concede more than 1 goal: Liverpool at home.

Richarlison offers hope

It's well documented that Spurs do not create much by way of goal scoring opportunities these days. Even strikers of top pedigree would struggle in the current Spurs side, thanks to a combination of the Thomas Frank's tactics, and the Lilywhites' more consistently effective attackers being either out of form or injured. Enter Richarlison, a figure who divides the Spurs fan base.

At his worst, Richarlison seems clumsy, a poor decision maker and lacking in the physical attributes to really contribute. At his best, the Brazilian World Cup hopeful is a determined, opportunistic forward who works best on instinct. Inside 3 minutes on the pitch against Liverpool, this was the Richarlison we saw.

Spurs' number 9 immediately harassed and hassled the Liverpool defence and very quickly had halved the deficit, taking advantage of confusion in the penalty area, air-kicks and trips aplenty, to sweep home a loose ball. Not long later Richarlison may even have equalised after Brennan Johnson slid the ball through to him, but was undone by his own lack of pace and are rare moment of composure from the Liverpool centre backs.

Richarlison isn't polished, he isn't particularly consistent and when his confidence takes a hit, he looks out of place anywhere near a football pitch. However, when he plays consistently, when he has no option but to attack on the front foot because the situation commands it, he is Spurs most likely route to a goal, and his 7 goals this season in a side that gives it's forwards next to no service is proof of this.

What Richarlison needs is either a foil to help create the space he needs, or a team behind him that can get the ball into dangerous areas. That is not a slight on 'Richy', because this describes most but the very elite forwards in the game.

He is one of the few current Spurs players doing his job to a decent level, and the manager should be looking at how best to accommodate this with his selections elsewhere in the side. Goals win games after all.

Thomas Frank shared updates about the health of the Tottenham squad.

Spurs sealed a 2-0 win over Brentford on the weekend, and they turn their attention to Champions League midweek football against Slavia Prague. The side is still missing three senior figures in the attack, but the head coach will look to build on the offensive momentum of the victory over the Bees.

“Destiny Udogie, as I said after the [Brentford] game unfortunately picked up a hamstring injury at the end of the Newcastle United game, so he’s out until January. Brennan Johnson is touch and go.

“I liked the performance, as I said after the game, but we're also playing a lot of games, so there will be a bit of rotation. I think that's the right thing to do to make sure everyone is coming full of energy and freshness but also keeping a core.

“It's an internal matter [about Yves Bissouma] that we're dealing with at the moment, and when we have dealt with that, then I will have a comment on it.

“I will confirm when Dejan Kulusevski is available for the squad. It's part of the recovery. There’s a plan for everything.

“It's very early stages. It's still a long-term injury, so it's good to see [James Maddison] out there, but very early stages. There's no specific time frame. It'll be a long time before he's available.

“Of course, if I knew back then what I know now, it maybe would have changed the decision [to leave out Mathys Tel], no doubt about that. Of course, it's something we can have into consideration if you can change one player, when is the timing, when can the other player be back and all that.

“There was also a decision in terms of some of the other long-term injuries. When can they be back? You need players that are fit and available, so we have enough players to shoot with from the bench.”

Thomas Frank was pleased with the reaction he got from Tottenham despite the 5-3 defeat to PSG in the UEFA Champions League.

It was an eventful game in Paris, where Tottenham took the lead when Richarlison headed in from the goal line for his third goal in three games. Vitinha levelled with a stunning strike from outside the box which crashed in off the bar.

Randal Kolo Muani got his first goal in a Tottenham shirt before the European Champions turned it up a level.

Vitinha got his second to level it at 2-2 before Fabian Ruiz gave PSG the lead for the first time in the game.

Pacho fired home a fourth from a rebound off a corner before Kolo Muani gave Spurs a bit of hope with his second goal, but the Parisians killed the game off when Vitinha got his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

It was Spurs’ first Champions League defeat of this season and continued a poor run of form with one win in their last five games.

Despite the loss, Frank was happy with how his team performed in comparison to the North London Derby on Sunday.

“Pleased with the performance,” said Frank. “It was the reaction that I wanted from the players and from the team. We have been working very hard on that. The players, staff and I, to make sure we responded well, which is crucial after a bad performance.

“Today you saw more identity in the team that I want to create, more character, personality, aggressiveness, three things you need to have in a team, no matter how well you want to play, whatever formation and today we saw it which is what I am pleased with.

“Of course, it was up there where we could get something out of the game, whether that be a draw or a win, so that is frustrating to concede some goals.

“Strikers [Kolo Muani and Richarlison] scored two goals, the whole team performed well. Archie Gray looked very positive.

“We played against a decent team [in PSG].”

Frank later elaborated on Kolo Muani's performance, “Today you saw what we can hopefully expect, even two goals and an assist every game is probably too much, I would love to get that every game.

“As I said every time, he came in late and with no pre-season, not top-fit and had two set-backs, then also an issue with the jaw, which you also saw again today, so hopefully we can get more.

Thomas Frank was speaking to the media in Paris ahead of Spurs' UEFA Champions League Group Stage match at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, hoping to keep their terrific unbeaten run in this season's competition alive, but will know how big a test it'll be against Luis Enrique's European Champions.

Frank said, "One thing I'm 1000% sure of, I know how to build a team, I know how to build a club and we will do that.

“Along the way, we'll learn and the big thing is how we learn from the bad spells, because that's where we also can see that when we go 1-0 down, how do we react as a team? The best teams, they just continually move on.

“They still run hard, they still do the same thing. There's no doubt in that.The first four months, I learned a lot about the team.

“I learned a lot about the individual players and all that learning that needs to materialise to how we find the right formula with the right players on the pitch and also with some players coming back.

“Then we play every third day. That's the big challenge, but that's what I embrace."