The Japan Times - Frank confident he can win over disgruntled Spurs fans

The Spurs boss was booed by supporters following Thursday's drab goalless draw at his former club Brentford, who also chanted "boring, boring Tottenham".

The result left the club, who host Sunderland on Sunday, 12th in the Premier League, with just two wins from their past 10 league games.

"We're working very hard," the beleaguered Frank said on Friday. "I understand (the fans') frustrations. I share them too."

Spurs appointed Frank in June after sacking Ange Postecoglou following a disastrous 17th-place finish in the Premier League but he has struggled to turn things around.

The Dane was asked by reporters whether he could be successful without the fans behind him.

"I will try to maybe turn that question around and say if you are successful the Tottenham fans will be behind you," he said.

"So the fans will get behind us and I'm pretty sure that, yes some booed last night (but) I'm still pretty sure there's a lot of fans behind us."

Frank was asked whether there was a misalignment between what he saw as success in terms of results and the type of stylish football that Spurs fans crave.

"I think expectation is good and I also think we are probably in a bit of a transition," he said. "Not that we don't want to play a lot better, but the club, the squad, the injuries, all that, taken into consideration, is part of that."

Frank pointed to a lengthy list of absentees, including James Maddison and Dominic Solanke as one reason for his side's struggles.

"I'm 100 percent sure (what) will happen is that I know we will be able to score a lot of goals and I know we will be much more dominant in a lot of games," he said.

"But with the current situation with too many of the top players out, playing a lot of games, that just makes it more tricky. Also with no time to train, it's just reality."

The Tottenham manager said he was focused on taking "small steps in the right direction every day".

"Right now it's the talk of the town, fair enough," he added.

"Tomorrow (it) will be forgotten, it will be a new thing and we, just behind the scenes, need to be calm and work on the things very hard and keep improving."

T.Ueda--JT