'We shouldn't be bringing this passion only when we are behind' - Micky van de Ven sends brutal message to Spurs team-mates after Aston Villa dumped Thomas Frank's side out of FA Cup

Spurs were beaten 2-1 by fellow Premier League opposition on Saturday as they crashed out of the FA Cup at the third round stage. The north Londoners were 2-0 down heading into half-time after goals from Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers. A strike from Wilson Odobert in the second-half sparked something of a fight-back, as Spurs attempted to arrest their recent poor form and find a way to progress to the fourth round. Alas, they were denied, and at the end of the game, a brawl almost broke out amid Villa's celebrations as Rogers fist-pumped towards the away end. Van de Ven has defended the melee and his team-mates' actions, but he insists Spurs have to find a way to prove their passion when they are either level or ahead, instead of doing it while behind. 

Van de Ven told reporters: "I think it's good passion. But we shouldn't be bringing this passion only when we are behind. If we start a game like this, it will be a whole different game. We were nowhere near in the first half like what we did in the second. We need to do this for the full 90 minutes. Then we will be a totally different team. We need to do it from the first minute and that is the problem at the moment.

"We have had too many ups and downs. We have too many games that we play at a good level and then there are games where we are way below our level. That's what we need to work on and be more consistent."

Spurs have won just one of their last seven fixtures in all competitions. 

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Spurs were handed good fitness news in the form of Dominic Solanke's return as a second-half substitute, but they will be counting the cost of losing Richarlison to what appears to be a hamstring injury. 

Manager Thomas Frank said: "Yeah, it could look like that. I think we've done a lot of things right to get him where he is now. I think he's done a lot of things right. It's not only about us, it's about every club. I think there's a few injuries across the Premier League. I think it's something for the football authorities to look into as well.

"We played five games in 13 days, four in ten. One of the few clubs who did that. This is our third time this season. That's the most tricky thing with two days in between. We're dealing with it. We're doing everything we can to compete in it, but that's a tough schedule."

On Spurs' performance, he added: "Of course that's disappointing. I said before the game that we went full strength. There was nothing. There were players we couldn't...should we energise. Micky [van de Ven] is in a top place, but that was definitely a player to think about [resting]. But we wanted to do everything we could to win the game.

"We did everything we could, especially the second half. You can see we did everything we could. Unfortunately we faced a good Villa team as well. They made two moments. They scored two goals. We could only have made one."

Spurs will not be in the hat for the fourth round and their next fixture will instead come against West Ham in the Premier League. It feels like a game that Frank can ill-afford to lose.