Igor Tudor point-blank refused to answer a question relating to Tottenham’s relegation scrap after a humiliating defeat at home to Crystal Palace. It leaves Tottenham just one point above the drop zone with nine games to play as fears of a first relegation since 1977 begin to grow.

Spurs fans were seen walking out of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at half-time, after a Micky van de Ven red card flipped the game on its head. Dominic Solanke had given the hosts an early advantage, but it was quickly cancelled out following Van de Ven’s sending off. The Dutchman dragged Ismaila Sarr down in the penalty area, with the ex-Watford ace stepping up and converting the spotkick. Jorgen Strand Larsen put the away side in front on the brink of half-time, but before the referee could blow for the break, Sarr added a third to add fuel to Tottenham’s ongoing fire.

It remained 3-1 throughout the second half, with 10-man Spurs failing to even muster any semblance of a comeback. Unsurprisingly, questions are being asked of interim Tudor already, with some fans even calling for the manager to be axed after just 19 days in charge.

However, in a spiky TV interview with TNT Sports, Tudor refused to engage with any talk about feeling “pressure” in regards to the club’s relegation battle. When asked about the threat of the drop, Tudor replied: “We need to stop the speak abut the pressure, this is not a topic to speak about. I will not speak any more about pressure.”

On his side’s current situation, the ex-Juventus manager added: “After this game I believe in (them) more than before, maybe it sounds strange but this is it. I saw something in the team, I saw that there is something, even now in the dressing room after the game.

“When we will be complete and I choose the right guys, it will be good I believe. I saw something, some good energy, some wish to do, some passion.

“The fight, I saw it was there. Unfortunately the red card changed the game but there are still nine games to play. We need to stop the speak about the pressure, this is not a topic to speak about.”

While striker Solanke admitted crunch talks were held in the dressing room post-match: “We’ve just had a big conversation. We know the position we are in is definitely not where we want to be so we need to figure out how we are going to get out of it as soon as possible.

“We know there’s been difficulties but we’re not in a position to make any excuses anymore. We need to do the job on the pitch. It is easy to say we want to be better but we want to be better on the pitch. We need to fight and realise the position we are in.

“We know the club is not used to being in this position so we need to understand it and understand it’s not going to be easy and we need to fight every single game, every single minute, to make sure we improve.”