De Zerbi demands mentality shift at injury-hit Spurs: ‘We need to stay strong in the head’

Robert De Zerbi is waiting on the fitness of two more players, after Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons were forced off injured at Molineux on Saturday, but he is optimistic that Tottenham’s 1-0 victory at Wolves “can change something in our mentality”.

The Spurs head coach celebrated his first win in charge of the relegation-threatened Europa League holders with the visiting fans in the Steve Bull Stand, exchanging fist pumps and belief.

João Palhinha scored the decisive goal in the 82nd minute to allow Spurs, after last week’s 2-2 draw against Brighton, to stay within two points of West Ham, who achieved a late 2-1 win over Everton.

With nine players already missing, Spurs will hope Solanke and Simons are not missing for long. But they will head to Aston Villa next Sunday with renewed faith, determined to ignore other teams’ fortunes. “I hope this result can change something in our head, in our mentality,” De Zerbi said. “Because I believe to stay up. If I stay [arrive] here, it’s because I’m positive.

“If you are Tottenham or another team, the most important are the qualities of the players and the human level of the players.”

The former Brighton and Marseille manager said his faith in his players has increased since he has been training with them. “It was a surprise for me because I didn’t know them,” he explained. “When I knew better my players, I understood that we have the possibility, the chance to stay up. We have two points [the gap to West Ham], not 10 points.

“If you watch the game from a stand or on TV, you can’t understand if they have the right spirit, they have the right attitude. I work with them every day and all players are professional, good guys. They are suffering from this situation. [My task is] to give them confidence and order on the pitch.

Xavi Simons was injured in the second half of Tottenham’s 1-0 win at Wolves. Photograph: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images

“I want to be clear and simple, but we need to stay strong in the head, positive in ourselves.”