Palace 0-1 Spurs | Every word of Thomas Frank's post-match press conference

Thomas Frank spoke to the media at Selhurst Park after our 1-0 win against Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.

Here's what he had to say...

It feels like a really big victory - do you feel your side deserve it?

Thomas: "I think it was an even game, in many ways. I think we had three key actions in the game where it's like this between being onside, two of them, and being inside of the post, and a goal. So, I think if you're that close three times to scoring a goal, it's not bad, and then we would have scored four. That's a way to look at it. I really liked the desire beat details mentality in the team, and the character and resilience of the team is something I spoke about a lot. 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, 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 where it's been a little bit up and down, I think it's a huge mentality effort from the players. We played extremely disciplined throughout the game. For example, one of Palace's major strengths is transitions, and we really closed them down, something we worked very, very hard on, big discipline in the team and we need to do that."

It was Archie Gray's first goal in senior football - did he deserve that for his recent performances?

Thomas: "Yes, definitely. I think Archie is growing. He showed why he has a very good potential in many ways. It's another fine performance overall today. Talking about resilience, he made a mistake in the Nottingham game, played another good game against Liverpool, growing as a young man. He was alert. I loved that goal, because he was alert, he was seeing where the ball will land and he was ready on it."

He's only 19 - does he give you a glimpse into the future of this team?

Thomas: "Yes, I think so. I think he shows a lot of quality, he covers ground so well, he's excellent in the pressing game, the defensive transition, brilliant at closing down. He's good on the ball, but there are parts of the game where we are not top in that area, and didn't show enough of his qualities there."

Is Lucas Bergvall okay?

Thomas: "I hope so, of course we'll assess him tomorrow."

You talked about it being, not the greatest performance, but a really important one. Have people got to accept that a team who's struggling is going to have to play like that away from home sometimes? Maybe even again at Brentford?

Thomas: "I think every game is different. As far as I know, the Newcastle game was even, the Brentford home game, we were way on top, Liverpool even until we got the red card. There's been many other games. I just think for any team, it's also the expectation. Where are we right now? I think that resilience and mentality to show that and win 1-0 is hugely important. On a day where maybe it's not free-floating and everything, it's fair to say we lack a few offensive players, including Xavi today and our captain, and then come to Crystal Palace. I, by the way, saw the Crystal Palace-Liverpool game. Liverpool should have been down 2-0 or 3-0 at half-time. It's a difficult place to go and go here to win the way we did - very impressive."

You guys have got the best away record in the Premier League so far this season. What do you put that down to and do you feel like you have a template or a method for winning these away games?

Thomas: "I think the players really understood what type of game we were facing today. I think the discipline in what I say, the rest defending, not giving stupid counter-attacks away, trying to come here and just completely dominating when we are, where we are, where we are not at the top of where we want to be in terms of performance-wise, which we were working on. Then put the effort and the character and defending side of the game into it. That gave us a 1-0 win today. There have been other very good away wins where we have been more dominant. To do that, I think it's a huge quality. Then when we get the home form even better, it will be very good."

This keeps you within touching distance of the top five - four points. Given that the first half of the season has been a bit of a transitional one, up and down, does it feel like reaching the Champions League is still an achievable goal this season?

Thomas: "I think, how can you say it, the consistency in this performance... before the game I said we had four out of five good performances, including the Liverpool one in many ways. This is another one in terms of consistently working hard, not everything was perfect, but it's a good step in the right direction. That's what we need to keep working on. Then get a little bit more in form of the offensive players, and then step by step."

We saw Fabio Paratici with Vinai Venkatesham in the stands today, amid speculation of his future - can you give us an update?

Thomas: "I didn't know that Vinai and Fabio were here today, but I expected them to be. As I said the whole time, there's a lot of rumours with a lot of things. Players, staff members, directors, whatever it is, I don't comment on them."

Speaking of transfers, there's been a lot of speculation about Brennan Johnson and Crystal Palace, are you keen to keep him in January?

Thomas: "Yeah, I think Brennan is very important for us. Maybe he didn't get many minutes, but unfortunately we can only play 11 players. We spoke about it before with Mo, he's coming in and put his stamp on that right winger position. Then the left, we tried different solutions. He's still started quite a few games. I think Brennan is an important player for us."

The team has had moments like the Brentford win or the Copenhagen win and then taken a step backwards. Do you feel like this is the period now to get that momentum and more consistent results?

Thomas: "I think the most important thing is we get consistent performances. If we get that, then you never know. I start the press conference today talking about this (fine margin) and if we get this, we score three more goals so that can go one way or another. If we get consistent performances where we defend like we did today, then show more calmness and coolness on the ball, which we didn’t and also second half you can see we are not a free-flowing confident team, but we're growing."

You scored your ninth set-piece goal today, the fifth most in the Premier League, how important is it to lean on that quality, especially in tough matches like this?

Thomas: "Every team needs to find an edge and set-pieces is one area that is hugely important. We saw the Chelsea vs Villa game yesterday and two out of three goals set-pieces, so it is hugely important we keep working on that and very happy the way the approach the players have to it, they've really brought into it and understand the importance of it."

Arne Slot said last season that a manager normally gets possession principles in, then defensive and then set-pieces. Have you approached it the other way around to get set pieces in first?

Thomas: "I think that the set-piece was a low-hanging fruit, which we have improved compared to last season, but it needs to be all three areas. I can’t see why it can't be three areas at same time. Then some time you can say, ‘set-pieces have improved a lot,’ or ‘offensively has improved a lot,’ or ‘defence has improved,’ depending on where you are, but all three areas are very important."