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Dominic Solanke breaks Tottenham dressing room silence after Crystal Palace embarrassment
Reach Daily Express | March 6, 2026 3:40 PM CST

Igor Tudor says he has greater faith in his squad than ever before - and Dominic Solanke admits the Tottenham team held a dressing room summit after their 3-1 home loss to Crystal Palace. Spurs' defeat leaves them only a point clear of the Premier League drop zone and stretches their winless streak to 11 league fixtures. They have yet to win in the top flight in 2026 and their troubles increased after the captain on the night, Micky van de Ven, was sent off in the first half against Palace which rules him out of their next fixture away at Liverpool.

Solanke put Spurs ahead in the 34th minute but the hosts found themselves 3-1 down at half-time. Ismaila Sarr struck twice and Jorgen Strand Larsen contributed another following Van de Ven's dismissal. The Dutchman was deemed to have prevented Sarr from a clear goalscoring chance, hauling him down inside the box. Van de Ven will now be absent for the Premier League clash against Liverpool at Anfield on March 15.

Speaking about the club's predicament, Solanke acknowledged the squad had engaged in honest conversations regarding their current circumstances. "We've just had a big conversation," he said.

"We know the position we are in is definitely not where we want to be so we need to figure out how we are going to get out of it as soon as possible. We know there's been difficulties but we're not in a position to make any excuses anymore.

"We need to do the job on the pitch. It is easy to say we want to be better but we want to be better on the pitch. We need to fight and realise the position we are in.

"We know the club is not used to being in this position so we need to understand it and understand it's not going to be easy and we need to fight every single game, every single minute, to make sure we improve."

Addressing TNT Sports afterwards, Croatian manager Igor Tudor meanwhile said: "After this game I believe in [them] more than before, maybe it sounds strange but this is it. I saw something in the team, I saw that there is something, even ow in the dressing room after the game.

"When we will be complete and I choose the right guys, it will be good I believe. I saw something, some good energy, some wish to do, some passion. The fight, I saw it was there.

"Unfortunately the red card changed the game but there are still nine games to play. We need to stop the speak abut the pressure, this is not a topic to speak about. I will not speak anymore about pressure."

Spurs' campaign has been severely hampered by injuries, with Wilson Odobert, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Ben Davies, Lucas Bergvall, Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence all presently unavailable.

And Spurs legend Peter Crouch also suggested that those absences have depleted the squad's calibre. "I don't think there is quality," he said. "The best players are out injured.

"Tottenham are bang in trouble. I look at Manchester United and they looked to Michael Carrick, he has managed to get a tune out of those players straight away. Tudor is a massive gamble.

"There are no players who have come through from the youth team, players who know the club. Archie Gray was the best player for Tottenham, and he's 19 years old. There aren't enough leaders out there."

Spurs' focus now shifts towards preparing for next Tuesday's Champions League last-16 first leg away at Atletico Madrid.

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