Igor Tudor has not spoken about relegation with his Tottenham squad but accepts they face a “life and death” situation in the Premier League.
Spurs have become embroiled in a battle to stay up after enduring a run of two wins from their last 18 matches in the division.
Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Fulham, Tottenham are only four points above the bottom three, but Tudor does not feel the need to discuss relegation with his players.
Tudor said: “No, I never used it, but not because it’s something too scary, or it’s a danger word, or we won’t sleep. It’s about that we need to refocus on ourselves.
“I also see the same way I speak with my players, to be focused on ourselves, on the training. That’s the only thing we can change.
“There is nothing to think about. The future or the points, even? The points come as a consequence of the training and the game. That’s the focus. That’s the main and only focus we need to have.
“I believe that the mentality changes by training. By doing the right things there and then to have enough training sessions that you can transmit this thing to your team that on Sunday this can be seen from the fans on the stadium.
“That’s the key. Hard work in other ways, there is no other possibility.”
Tudor has achieved instant results in his last two roles at Juventus and Lazio, but suffered defeat by a 4-1 margin at home to Arsenal last Sunday.
The 47-year-old acknowledged Spurs’ rivals were on a different level to his 16th-placed team.
Pedro Porro and Kevin Danso have returned this week to provide Tottenham with a timely boost and the duo fit perfectly into Tudor’s favoured system of a three-man defence with wing-backs, but he insisted now is not the time to talk about style.
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“We are going to see when they are back, how they are back, what are the other players,” Tudor said when asked about Porro and Danso.
“This is work to recognise what this team can do. You know, because when you start to work, you start, but then it’s a game to show you how is the real situation of the team?
“You know in a physical condition because it’s fantastic to go to press up and that’s when I speak about style. That’s also one part of the style, how you want to be without the ball, but then, if you have too much problems (at the) back, you need to think about the style?
“Is it the right style? Is it the right way? You can call it how you want, so I need to be smart to understand deeper the moment and the way how to take the points.
“Even not looking to the style now at this moment. The style needs to be in the second moment, because now it’s a question of life and death if I can say that in that way sportingly.”
