Bournemouth 3-2 Spurs | Every word of Thomas Frank’s post-match press conference

Thomas Frank spoke to the media at the Vitality after our 3-2 loss against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

Here’s what he had to say…

It felt like a game you had the chances to win, but obviously it must have been so frustrating to lose it at the death…

Thomas: “Definitely. It's very tough to sit here right now and we haven't got anything out of a good performance. We started well, got up 1-0, conceding two goals on second-phase set-pieces, especially the second one we must do better. But I really liked the character in the team and from the players, they gave everything. In the second half I think we were completely on top and keep going even through disappointments and small setbacks we talked about before. We worked very, very hard with the players and the team on that. We don't score, inside the post from Richy, overturned penalty, we keep going, getting the equaliser, 2-2. After that I think we are closer to winning than Bournemouth, the Micky header and other good opportunities. So, to sit here after conceding in five or six minutes of extra time is very painful, very tough, but that's football – that’s the margins in football.”

What did you make of the penalty being overturned?

Thomas: “I think it's a 50-50 situation.”

Can I ask about injuries? Bergvall, Bentancur…

“Yeah, of course. I don't know exactly the update, of course. My initial thought is probably not the top with Lucas when he’s off for the second time… what was it, Palace?

I was just going to ask very quickly about Kudus, because it's the first time we’ve seen you since the scan…

Thomas: “We’ll know more tomorrow.”

Thomas, we have to ask you about an unfortunate image before the game, you were holding a cup, it's got Arsenal branding on it. Presumably it got passed to you, did you just not notice that it was on there?

Thomas: “I definitely didn’t notice it. I think it's fair to say that not winning every single football match. It would be absolutely, completely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal…. anyone thinking I've done that, or the staff has done it, they've (Arsenal – last opposing team at Bournemouth) been in the changing room the game before us. It's normal to take a cup, give me an espresso, do that before every game. I think actually it's a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked a question about that. I think we're definitely going in the wrong direction if we need to worry about me having a cup with another logo of another club. Of course, I would never do that, that's extremely stupid.”

On the winning goal – from a defensive point of view, how did you see that goal?

Thomas: “The easiest thing is to say you can never concede that. I think our goal against Sunderland, as I look back, that we can never concede. This one, you can never concede it anyway, I need to watch it back, a little bit more calm-headed, of course, next time, but get everyone behind the ball. It's not like it's a transition where we have three vs two, this was a situation where they've given everything, but then you finish on an angle quite far out on the side of the goal, which is not going to score every single time but it did today.”

You mentioned about the two goals you conceded in the first half, they were almost identical in the positions the cross came in - is that just a case of players not getting out to the player, or was it a structural breakdown?

Thomas: “I think the second one is the biggest one. We need to accept sometimes the teams do something that is okay, but the second one is preventable.”

Do the injuries necessitate even further the club getting into the market in January and doing some business really quickly?

Thomas: “As I said, quite a few times we are in the market, the club is working very hard. It's difficult in January, and we need to get players in that can improve the squad.”

There seem to be some exchanges with the fans in the away and at the end between your players and them. Was there anything that troubled you or was it just frustrations that you sort of understand?

Thomas: “I haven't seen that situation, that's one thing. I think it's fair to say everyone involved in Tottenham - players, staff, fans, everyone - this is a tough one to take today. I think hopefully everyone can see how hard it works to get everything in the right direction. I think overall the performance was good, especially in the second half, and again where we deserved to get more. That is extremely painful to be part of so, of course, people are frustrated, I'm frustrated.”