Postecoglou's Spurs not for turning as they face tough trip to Man City

LONDON : Assessing the current state of play at Tottenham Hotspur is complicated as the injury-hit north London side prepare for a trip to champions Manchester City this Sunday on the back of three successive Premier League defeats.

In all probability a visit to second-placed City's Etihad Stadium fortress will result in Spurs, who have slipped to fifth spot and are now four points off the pace, losing four league games in a row for the first time since 2004.

With local rivals West Ham United and Newcastle United to follow in quick succession there is a danger that Tottenham's early season promise under new manager Ange Postecoglou will soon seem as distant a memory as the balmy days of late summer.

Yet despite accusations that they have reverted to their old 'Spursy' ways after losing three games from 1-0 up - the first Premier League side to do so since Leicester City in 2014 - the mood amongst the club faithful remains remarkably upbeat.

Even when early pacesetters Tottenham took 26 points from their first 10 games - their best start to a top-flight season since the double-winning side of 1960-61 - few of the club's supporters were crowing about a possible tilt for the title.

More importantly for the fans, Postecoglou had re-aligned the team to play a courageous brand of football more fitting of the club's "To Dare is to Do" motto - a saying out of step with the tactics used by the Australian's predecessor Antonio Conte.

There are also mitigating factors for the current slide.

It began with a riotous 4-1 home defeat by Chelsea in which Spurs began superbly before Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were dismissed while playmaker James Maddison and Micky van de Ven, Romero's centre back partner, suffered serious injuries.

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