After a comeback draw with Manchester United, Ryan Mason believes that Tottenham is “willing to fight” for a spot in the Premier League’s upper echelons.
In his first game in command after taking over for Cristian Stellini, Pedro Porro and Heung-Min Son’s goals allowed the interim manager to end the team’s losing streak.
Mason has experience in the Spurs managerial spotlight; two years ago, he served as caretaker after Jose Mourinho left the club and oversaw the Carabao Cup final.
Mason was ecstatic to see a response from his team following a 6-1 defeat to Newcastle in their previous match. This shows their drive.
He told BT Sport: “In football, you can win, lose or draw but the most important [thing] is that we react together. I have a team that’s willing to fight.
“I thought in the second half, we were outstanding [with] the character we showed after last Sunday. I hope the fans can see that we were a team today.
“Those players in there, I know I’ve got men who when they pull together, they’re a very strong team. That’s my job, to inspire them and make sure we act as a team.”
Goalscorer Son, who was supplied for his point-clinching finish by regular partner Harry Kane, suggested Spurs’ performance was born out of frustration over recent failings.
He said: “I thought we didn’t deserve to be 2-0 down in the first half. We played quite well, we had the chances to score. But we weren’t clinical enough.
“We didn’t want to let the fans down, we wanted to give everything and that was the dressing room speech. We couldn’t let the game go. We were really angry about it.
“Football is all about the fans. The last week was unacceptable, and we didn’t want to repeat that. With them, we really appreciated their support. They were fighting with us”.