Vilahamn hails Spurs’ character ahead of Brighton test | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Robert Vilahamn hailed his side’s character after bouncing back from a difficult run of form.

In October and November, Spurs were defeated by all of the Barclays Women’s Super League’s top four, conceding 15 goals in the process, however, The Lilywhites have responded with three consecutive wins in all competitions.

When speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s trip to Brighton & Hove Albion, Vilahamn praised his side for bouncing back from some heavy losses.

“I’m very happy,” Vilahamn said. “The character and what we want to do is not always shown when you’re winning games, it’s how you come back after losing a few games as well. There were a few big losses before that but we bounced back, we’re winning games again and we’ve defended very well.

“It’s a big thing to show the character of this group and the potential. We are still not there yet but we see that we have good character to bounce back and that’s what I want to see. Taking steps now makes us more stable in the performances and allows us to get more points, looking upwards rather than downwards.”

This weekend’s opponents Brighton & Hove Albion have enjoyed an excellent campaign so far and they find themselves occupying fifth place in the league table. Vilahamn sees similarities in The Seagulls’ performances this season and his own side’s form in 2023/2024.

He said “They’re similar to what we were last season with a new coach coming in, a new Brighton identity as well. They’ve made some good signings, they’ve signed some top players and they have performed very well. They have some games where they struggle and some where they’ve matched the top teams.

“I’ve been impressed. They have a really good coach, the squad is strong and they have invested heavily. They are up there trying to break into the top as well like us. It’s going to be a very tough game but Brighton are one of those teams that we want to be better than. We have to show them that we want to be a top team soon.”

Spurs trail Brighton & Hove Albion by six points in the table but regardless of this weekend’s result, Vilahamn believes that his side can challenge the top five in the second half of the season.

He said “It’s a little bit of a deal-breaker if we want to compete with the top five but on the other hand, there are many games remaining after this. Even if we lose tomorrow and we are consistent after the New Year, we can still compete for the top five spots.

“It’s quite clear in the table where the top five are compared to the rest of us, so a good result would be good for us but I’m not looking too much at the table, I’m looking at how we play, how we defend and score goals then the result will come.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 5.30pm on Saturday evening.