Top News

Igor Tudor faced the media at his press conference on Monday night in Madrid ahead of Tottenham's Champions League last 16 clash at Atletico Madrid.

The Croatian is the subject of plenty of speculation after all of his opening three matches at the helm ended in defeat. Spurs are currently languishing in 16th place in the Premier League table with just a point separating them from 18th-placed West Ham with Nottingham Forest in between them.

The north London outfit have enjoyed good times though in Europe throughout this campaign, after last season's triumphant run in the Europa League. Tuesday night's European distraction brings a tough test against Diego Simeone's inconsistent side in Spain and will mark a quick homecoming for Conor Gallagher, who departed Atletico for Tottenham in the winter window.

• Injured Tottenham duo return to training as Igor Tudor gets major Atletico Madrid boost
• Atletico Madrid star to miss both Tottenham ties with injury as statement released

Tudor delivered the latest injury news, having previously said that he hoped Djed Spence and Radu Dragusin would be fit for the game, while captain Cristian Romero is finally available to play again after his four-game Premier League suspension.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those in Madrid asking the questions to Tudor. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at the Metropolitano stadium.

FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE!Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

You said on Thursday night about the players who want to be in your boat, and the players who aren't in the boat. I just wondered, will we know by your team selection tomorrow who's in your boat?

First of all, as you know, I never said, but the players who are in this position, I saw this morning in the training, so we are happy that Romero is back, Djed is back, Bissouma is not and Souza, because of the rules of the Champions League. So the players are coming back, that's important, because it's the first time that I'm here and we'll have, let's say, available the players to play in defence, the players who usually play.

So in the whole three games, we missed the players on their positions, and we missed the players who are usually playing. So, beautiful game to play tomorrow, against a totally different competition than the Premier League. It's a good experience from this season, past games. So, let's see what happens tomorrow.

This is the first time you've been able to select Cristian Romero since you've been here. As a former centre-back yourself, what kind of qualities does he bring, and how determined is he to play his part in turning around this whole situation?

He missed a lot. He was also not feeling good, to not be able to help the team. Now he's back. He was working these two, three weeks a lot. Even in the fitness, he did separate running sessions to be in better shape now that he's back. We are happy. I'm sure that tomorrow he'll be a leader like he's always been, and that we'll play together.

How important are these two games against Atletico?

Of course, it's very important. It's important, as I said, always, after the game, we need to be focused on us. We have to grow. So, it can be an opportunity. A totally different mentality can be used in this kind of game. So maybe this can help us to see which problems we have, I believe that these kinds of games can help us to switch in the right way, but always focus on us, to grow as a team, to do things better. And that's the point.

Do you feel you're getting a lot more out of these players over the last few days?

I saw that more the time has passed, the sessions are always better, there's more quality in everything. Especially because important players are coming back in the team. So that's the key, of course. As I said before, lots of old habits, sometimes take more time than you expected to change.

This is also very interesting. This is the thing we are speaking about, me with the staff every day, how fast we can make the changes. Sometimes it's not easy. It's still a good effort, which usually we are not able to do. When I'm speaking about changes, when I'm speaking about boats, when I'm speaking about that, because it's not easy to change the things you are doing for months or for a year. So, something is moving. Not just something. So, we'll see tomorrow. We'll see tomorrow.

You said this game is really important for you, but in some ways, it may be a free hit to try some things new to work out as obviously, for the Premier League, you want to focus on the relegation battle?

I agree with both things. As I said, focus on us, playing a team, who has a story in this Champions League, what they have experienced, they have quality. We need to do our best in terms that we need to grow, as you said also. Because our first aim is the Premier League - this needs to be said publicly, this is a normal thing - this is something extra. But that doesn't mean that we don't want to pass and don’t want to go to the next round.

I would like to ask about Richarlison, because when you arrived, it looked like he was coming back from injury. He used him in all three games, he scored against Fulham, how do you see his importance for the team, and is he ready to start again?

Well, he'll start tomorrow.

In what position?

I've already said enough!

What do you think of this version of this Atletico Madrid team? And when you take on Diego Simeone's teams, what specific things do you have to bear in mind?

First of all, the mentality of the coach. You know how he was a player, how he's a coach. So the mentality of the team, experience they have in this competition, quality players. Every moment they can score the goal and they never stop running. So tough opponent to play against. Big motivation from all sides to do what we need to do.

Tell us a bit more about how you see his mentality?

We know how he is. Staying here, I don't know how many years in one club. It's been it's been something. I feel big respect for him. Amazing coach.