Jose Mourinho calls for Spurs “loyalty” in search for team’s missing link

Jose Mourinho has admitted Tottenham Hotspur are missing a goalscorer but has called for “loyalty” to be shown to his guys after dropping more points in the Premier League.

Spurs played out a goalless draw at Watford and it could have been worse if not for goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga saving a second-half Troy Deeney penalty.

Spurs’ recent struggles: Five key things to know…

• Tottenham have collected just two Premier League points from the last 12 available.
• They’ve now failed to score in their past three outings, and have gone 227 minutes since last scoring.
• Harry Kane, who sustained a hamstring injury against Southampton, scored Spurs’ last Premier League goal against Norwich in late December.
• Jose Mourinho has opted to deploy Brazilian forward Lucas Moura as Kane’s replacement amid calls to sign a goalscorer.
• Mourinho conceded they are missing a hungry striker but feels “loyalty” should be shown towards those under his watch.

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The result, nonetheless, extended their winless run in the Premier League to four matches and even more worryingly they’ve now gone 227 minutes with scoring a goal.

Harry Kane, who sustained a serious hamstring injury against Southampton New Year’s Day, bagged the Lilywhites’ most recent goal at Carrow Road in late December.

Since then, even with their leading marksman, Mourinho hasn’t been able to celebrate on the touchline. Kane’s injury, which is expected to keep him out until April, has led to calls for Spurs to dip into the January transfer market.

Mourinho, known for improvising, has opted to deploy Lucas Moura in Kane’s place with no room for teenage centre-forward Troy Parrott. And despite this latest setback the Portuguese tactician stressed the importance of keeping faith in those under his watch.

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“This is not the last match of Tottenham’s history. Next Wednesday we have another one, next season we have many more,” he told reporters.

“We have to be calm, be loyal to these boys, respecting everything they are trying to do. If it happens it happens, if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen. But good feelings, not a good result but good feelings with the boys.

“This is a kind of game, I am not saying we would win, but it is the kind of game where you have a goalscorer, where you have a guy who smells goals, probably you win it. You feel the same when you see the Liverpool game, in the last 20 minutes how many times we just need a tap-in. That missing link is there. But we are doing our work.”