'Ridicule me' - Ange Postecoglou responds to trophy claim after Tottenham beat Eintracht Frankfurt

Tottenham secured their spot in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday night with an impressive away win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the second leg of their quarter-final. Dominic Solanke dispatched a spot-kick just before half-time, and Ange Postecoglou’s men held on for dear life, keeping out a usually dangerous Frankfurt side.

For the under pressure Postecoglou, it may be seen as an opportunity to hit back at the critics, but the Australian remained calm in his post-match interview with TNT Sport.

Asked about Tottenham’s chances of winning the Europa League and the notion that Postecoglou always wins something in his second year on the job, the Spurs boss replied: “People like to mock, to ridicule me and diminish my achievements, but I just keep doing what I do.”

Speaking about the game, he said: “The togetherness of the lads. It's fair to say there has been a fair bit of noise around the lads, but they have just been so focused on us, achieving what we want to, and I'm super proud of them.” He added: “The fans were brilliant tonight. I hope they enjoy it. We have bee through a tough time, and I understand their disappointment, but hopefully this gives them something to look forward to. “

When asked if the win will silence the critics, Postecoglou responded: “I doubt it. I'm the same coach today as I was yesterday. My pleasure comes from seeing this group of players win because they are the ones who have never lost belief, whatever the noise has been outside, and I'm just super proud.”

The scorer of the winning goal, Solanke, also spoke to TNT Sport, saying: “I think it's something we've been looking forward to for the whole season, to be back in Europe. We said at the start of the season that we wanted to win the thing, and obviously we are a step closer now.” On Tottenham’s chances of going all the way, he added: “Yeah, of course. Obviously, we haven't had the best of seasons in the Premier League this season, but you want to win trophies, and we have a good chance of doing that this year with this cup, so I hope we can go on to win it.”

Ferdinand praise

Les Ferdinand praised Spurs for their character after the game, saying on TNT Sport: “We said at the start, it would take something from all the players to get over the line and to a man, every single player put in a shift tonight. The goalkeeper, when he was called upon, did what he had to do. It was just a thoroughly professional performance. We knew Frankfurt were going to come on strong in the second half, which they did, but they weathered the storm.

"Spurs did that really well. It sounds strange sitting here saying Spurs have won a game 1-0 but full credit to them. They went out with a game-plan, stuck to the game-plan and got the result they needed. They are now in the semi finals. It’s another part of the job and they have to go again.”