Thomas Frank’s verdict: “It’s been a good week”

Asked if it was a case of boxes ticked for a first pre-season game, Thomas, speaking to SPURSPLAY, reflected: “Yes, lots of boxes ticked, and if we look in a bigger perspective, it’s been a good week, very tough and intense for the lads, so couple of good things, we’ve got through the week, touch wood, no injuries, everyone in a better, physical place, all the players got a good 45 minutes here, plus a good run after. The fitness box ticked, and it’s always important to keep a clean sheet, that’s very important if you want to win football matches, so good aspects in that. I think it’s good we scored two goals from set pieces, something we’ve been working hard on. There were elements in the game I’m happy with, elements of the high pressure, elements of the counter-press, so when we’ve lost it, we can bank teams in, elements of having enough players in the box… but there are also bits we’d like to do better, but that’s normal.”

The players certainly wanted to keep that clean sheet, and threw themselves in for blocks - as worked on in training last week - as Reading pushed for a late consolation. Guglielmo Vicario also kept the hosts at bay with a couple of fine saves, notably touching aside Ashqar Ahmed's low drive, the final effort of the game.

“That’s why you saw the blocking drill earlier in the week, everything is linked,” added Thomas. “We want to attack, we want to be brave but, unfortunately, we’re facing an opponent sometimes who also wants to attack, and when they are attacking, we want to defend well and put our bodies on the line when we have to.”

Click here to read article