Sherwood urges Spurs players to show character

Tim Sherwood has told his Tottenham players to prove they have the character to play for the club after admitting the White Hart Lane crowd is ‘demanding’.

Tottenham have lost their last two games heading into tonight’s Europa League last-32 clash with Dnipro, including a 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Ukraine.

And now Sherwood admits he is unsure whether certain members of his squad can handle the pressure of playing for such an ambitious club in front of unforgiving supporters.

“The personality is when you are playing at White Hart Lane, that’s when you need it,” said Sherwood when asked whether his players need to show more character at home.

“It’s a big stage, White Hart Lane, and it always has been and I remember that as a player. It’s a big stage and it’s a very demanding crowd — rightly so — and you can either play for a big club or you can’t.

“Some of them still have to prove they have that character to be able to play for Tottenham.

“I always maintain these mid-table sides or bottom of the league sides, with respect to them, if you are a professional footballer you can play for them because you haven’t got that added spice of the pressure, the London media all over you. You’ve got it at Tottenham. Can you handle it or not? We’ll see.”

Yet Sherwood admits his side face an uphill challenge to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Norwich — a result which he says was unacceptable — means they are six points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool with 11 games remaining, but the 45-year-old is adamant they can bridge the gap and could even catch rivals Arsenal.

“If you can’t beat Norwich away, with respect, you don’t deserve to be in the Champions League,” he said.

“It would take a massive fall from grace for Chelsea or Man City to slip and drop, but possibly Arsenal (can be caught).

“You never know. There will be a lot of swings and roundabouts and we’ve just got to make sure we’re in with a fight right to the death.”

To do so the club require €31.2m striker Roberto Soldado to come good.

The Spaniard has scored just once from open play in the Premier League — a goal back in October — and missed simple chances in the defeats against both Dnipro and Norwich.

But Sherwood is confident the former Valencia man will show his worth.

“It’s a barren spell for a striker,” said Sherwood in reference to the fact Soldado hasn’t scored since Dec 29.

“I sat down with him this week, had a chat with him and said ‘it will happen, it’s a matter of time’.

“(Liverpool’s Luis) Suarez is going through one at the moment and no-one is pointing any fingers as they are winning games.

“He has to have the character and be big enough to come through that. It might just be a lucky one that comes off his backside and all of a sudden the confidence floods back.

“Have I been getting him to shoot at an open goal in training to boost his confidence? What about if he misses the goal?! No, he’s had no problem. We work on shooting. He’s diligent in his training and he works at it and he’s fine. It’s not a problem.

“You’ve got a settling in period and some settle quicker than others. If you asked Robbie himself, he is still in that settling in period but it can change very, very quickly and we’re hoping it changes as soon as possible for him.”