LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur failed to handle the pressure of their high-stakes clash with Nottingham Forest, Spurs assistant coach Bruno Saltor said after a damaging 3-0 defeat on Sunday left his side a single point above the relegation zone.
Spurs' season seemed to be on an upward turn, with a hard-fought point against an admittedly poor Liverpool last Sunday followed by a spirited 3-2 win on the night against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Fans gathered to cheer the team bus early on Sunday and a protest against Spurs' ownership was delayed in the interests of harmony, but the all-too-familiar boos still rained down after a sorry display against relegation rivals Forest.
Saltor – who took press conference duties as boss Igor Tudor dealt with a personal matter that media said was a family bereavement – said he saw cause for optimism in Spurs' last two games and their first-half performance.
But fans will be worried at his admissions about the players, who now face a fight just to secure a second straight 17th-placed finish, without last season's salve of Europa League triumph to make up for domestic woe.
"You can see the players, they care and they (are) 100% trying their best, but at the moment it's not enough and we need to minimizeany mistakes because we know we are going to concede a goal," he told reporters.
"The first 44 minutes, I thought were good, really good ... second half, probably we were not able to deal with the weight of the game."
SPURS' COLLAPSE SPARKS RELEGATION WORRIES
Spurs were the better side up to Forest's first goal, though that makes their capitulation in the second half all the more concerning.
Their lack of strength on the pitch was matched by the fragility of the relationship with their fans, who have only seen two home league wins this season. Many fans left before the final whistle, while those still there voiced their anger.
Captain Cristian Romero nonetheless praised the supporters after what he described as a "painful" day, saying Spurs will need the fans for "seven finals" after the international break.
Saltor echoed Romero's comments, saying: "Right now, all of us, we have the same goal: that is fight until the end of the season and stay in the Premier League as this club deserves."
On current form, however, Spurs' nearly five-decade unbroken status as a top-flight team is in serious jeopardy.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
