Thomas Frank lauds Tottenham’s ‘huge mentality effort’ in win at Crystal Palace

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank hailed his players for a “huge mentality effort” after a gritty 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.

Spurs fans had started to turn on Frank after a run of five defeats in eight left them 14th in the Premier League on Christmas Day.

While there had been no suggestions internally that Frank’s job was under immediate threat, Tottenham needed to return to winning ways and Gray’s 42nd-minute header settled the contest between the current FA Cup and Europa League holders.

“I really liked the desire, details, mentality in the team and the character and resilience of the team is something I spoke about a lot,” Frank reflected.

“That is so important that we have that resilience in the team, because in a long Premier League season, you need to go to a very difficult away ground here and fight and show character. To get a clean sheet, win 1-0, that was a massive win in many ways.

“Was it a top performance? No. Are there things we can improve? Yes. But to go here, with the season having been a little bit up and down, I think it’s a huge mentality effort from the players.”

Gray was the unlikely match-winner after he opened his account for Spurs on his 60th appearance with a close-range header, which marked his first professional goal at the 112th time of asking.

Frank has backed the 19-year-old in recent weeks – even after an error in a recent 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest – and was delighted to see his faith rewarded.

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