Dominic Solanke insisted there was no time for Tottenham to make excuses after their relegation fears worsened following a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Thursday. 

Solanke had opened the scoring in the 34th minute for Igor Tudor's team, only for Micky van de Ven's red card four minutes later to turn the contest on its head. 

Palace drew level through Ismaila Sarr, who had seen an earlier goal disallowed for offside, before Jorgen Strand Larsen put the Eagles ahead in the first minute of first-half stoppage time. 

Sarr then doubled his tally before half-time as Oliver Glasner's side held on for the win, with Spurs subject to boos following referee Andy Madley's full-time whistle.

Indeed, Spurs have now failed to win 11 successive league games for the first time since October 1975 under Terry Neill (D7 L4), while they have also lost five successive Premier League matches for the first time since November 2004 (run of six).

In addition, only in 1935 (first 15 games) have Spurs endured a longer winless run in league football to begin a calendar year than their 11 matches in 2026 so far. 

"We've just had a big conversation," Solanke told TNT Sports. 

"We know the position we are in is definitely not where we want to be, so we need to figure out how we are going to get out of it as soon as possible.

"We know there've been difficulties, but we're not in a position to make any excuses anymore. We need to do the job on the pitch.

"It is easy to say we want to be better, but we want to be better on the pitch. We need to fight and realise the position we are in.

"We know the club is not used to being in this position, so we need to understand it and understand it's not going to be easy, and we need to fight every single game, every single minute, to make sure we improve."

Spurs' ill-discipline came back to haunt them once more, with Van de Ven sent off for the first time for the club in what was his 86th appearance in all competitions. 

Only Chelsea (seven) have received more red cards in the top-flight in 2025-26 than Spurs (four), with Tudor losing all three of his matches since taking over from Thomas Frank. 

Tudor is just the second Spurs head coach in Premier League history to lose each of his first three games in charge after Martin Jol in November 2004.

The Opta supercomputer has only assigned Spurs a 14% chance of being relegated to the Championship, with West Ham (49.8%) and Nottingham Forest (28.2%) more likely to face the drop in its season simulations. 

And Tudor remained optimistic about Spurs' survival hopes, with an away trip to Liverpool their next Premier League assignment on March 15. 

"We are disappointed we lost. The red card changed the game. Then we conceded two or three fast goals," Tudor added. 

"In the second half, we tried. We wanted some good energy. I saw something that made me believe we can do it, and I am sure we will do.

"The game plan was to believe when we attack that we are going to score; otherwise, you cannot stay defending with one player [less], and, unfortunately, it was not enough.

"After this game, I believe more than before. I know it is not easy. It is a moment, but it will pass. It will pass. The message I said to them [the players] is not [for the] public."