Igor Tudor has not discussed potential relegation with his Tottenham players despite the prospect of a historic humiliation looking scarily real.
Spurs succumbed to a heavy north London derby defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, with doubles from Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze sealing a 4-1 away win for the Gunners.
The result left them just four points above the drop zone in 16th, with West Ham and Nottingham Forest below them both looking rejuvenated in recent weeks.
Spurs need to find form and fast to prevent undoubtedly the most shocking relegation in the Premier League era, but interim boss Tudor - who asserted the “less we speak” about the derby loss, the “better it is” - says he has avoided the topic of demotion in his first two weeks in the dressing room.
When asked if he has spoken about relegation with his team, Tudor said: “No, I never used [that word], but not because it's something to scare or something, it's like, I don't know how to explain, it's a dangerous word or we not speak with.
"It's about that we need to be focused on ourselves, really. That's what I said here. And I also in the same way I speak with my players, to be focused on ourselves, you know, on the training. That's the only thing we can change.
"So there is nothing to think about the future or the points here, you know. The points come as a consequence of the training and the games. So that's the focus, that's the main and only focus we need to have."
Tottenham travel to Fulham desperate for a win to spark a shift in fortunes, with Tudor describing the club’s situation as a “question of life and death... sportingly”.
He was able to provide a positive injury update ahead of the clash by confirming Kevin Danso and Pedro Porro would be available, while Micky van de Ven is “OK” despite a “small problem” with his finger.
Van de Ven became a topic of discussion following Sunday’s result after a video posted on social media appeared to show the defender ignoring Tudor’s instructions.
There were suggestions that the instructions were aimed at Radu Dragusin and the rest of the defence, which Tudor confirmed, insisting there were no problems with the Dutchman.
He said: "So it's a video from one fan, a fan. So you should need to comment on a fan's video? I saw that, but it was not an instruction to Micky, it was an instruction to the team, to go up.
"It was not about Micky. It was about the team coming up. We want to go up, because we want to play this style, that we press high, but the team is complicated at this moment. It's too much for them.
"So that's why it was the frustration of all that, but this is part of it, nothing special happened."
On Van de Ven’s commitment to the team, he added: “We didn't even speak about this, me and Micky, because nothing to speak [of], you know.
"He's a fantastic guy, a very good professional, so he would never do that things.”
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