Wednesday 25 September 2019 12:36, UK
Eric Dier says Tottenham need to "be humble" and work harder to turn around their poor run of form.
Spurs suffered a surprising Carabao Cup exit to League Two Colchester on Tuesday, when they went out 4-3 on penalties, as their disappointing start tom the season continued.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has spoken of battling "different agendas" within his squad, with Spurs having won eight of their last 26 games in all competitions, but Dier insists Spurs have what it takes to turn things around.
"We've been through periods like this before, with this group together, and we know what we need to do to get back on track," Dier said.
"We need to be humble, be able to recognise what we need to do better - each and every one of us. And work even harder than we have been to get things going in the right direction."
The result soured what should have been a positive night for England international Dier, who put a spate of injuries and illness behind him to make his first appearance of the season.
"It's not so much injuries but I've been unfortunate with illness, unfortunate to miss pre-season," Dier said.
"That hindered me. The most important thing is the team, trying to push on together. I need to keep working the way I am and taking my opportunities."
Pochettino admitted he is already planning to make transfers in January to boost his squad.
Spurs laboured to a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes against Colchester, before bowing out on penalties, as Tom Lapslie hit the winning spot-kick after Christian Eriksen and Lucas Moura missed in the shootout.
"We controlled the whole game, they had no shots on target," Dier said. "We weren't good enough in their half, every player, we weren't good enough at making the final pass or final run to finish off our plays and score.
"I think we controlled the game, started well, on the front foot from the beginning but we got a bit sloppy in the final 10 minutes before half-time.
"In the second half the game was a bit more open because we were trying to score and they had the opportunity on the counter attack but still didn't really come close.
"We didn't do enough around their box to score."
