De Zerbi also warned his players that he will not stand for them feeling sorry for themselves, despite the nature of their 2-2 draw against Brighton in which they twice led through Pedro Porro and Xavi Simons.

“They have to follow me and listen to me,” said De Zerbi. “I am proud of the performance. They have to be stronger and be focused just on the Wolves game and come to the training ground with a smile, otherwise they will go home immediately. I have no time to see negative people, sad players or sad assistants. We are lucky to work in a big club, we work in the Premier League and we have the right qualities to win the game. We have to be positive because I don’t like people who cry and think in a negative way.”

Asked whether or not he was now more confident that Tottenham can secure their Premier League safety, De Zerbi said: “Yes, but I always thought and believed in the qualities of the players. They played a good game and we can play better than today with more quality and more calm, especially when we are in possession. But in this moment we need this spirit, attitude, mentality.”

On the performance of Simons, who scored and assisted for Porro, De Zerbi added: “He played very well, a great game. He can play better and better because a player like this needs to feel confidence from the manager and I stay here to transfer all the confidence he needs. 

“When I was a player I was a No 10 and I know what he thinks because I thought the same when I played. I am lucky to have this player on my team, but he is lucky because as a No 10, I can understand better than other coaches.”