Thomas Frank believes he has earned the right to have more time in charge at Tottenham as the pressure continues to mount on the head coach.
Wednesday's defeat to Bournemouth leaves Tottenham languishing 14th in the Premier League, with just one win in their last six in all competitions.
A poor night was compounded by more unrest from supporters and club captain Cristian Romero seemingly criticising the club's hierarchy on social media.
Despite the turbulence, Frank believes he has done enough to deserve patience.
"No doubt about that. Put it this way, would we love to be higher in the table and have more points? 100 per cent," Frank said in his pre-match press conference ahead of his side's FA Cup third round tie against Aston Villa.
"We work hard every single day to make sure we perform well. We want to land in the best possible position at the end of the season.
"We need to look at the FA Cup game, a good opportunity against Villa, a team who is flying in this moment in time. The tournament is very important for the fans, we won it eight times in our history. This is a tough spell, we will get through this.
"We definitely want to do more [from an attacking point of view]. We have scored enough goals."
Frank also conceded that the style of play under his tenure hadn't matched that of the expectations of fans, but claimed that they were working hard to find a way to match the 'ethos' of Tottenham.
"It's a fair question. We spoke about that frustration. It's the ethos of the club, it's something we're working very hard on," he said.
"I see myself as above average intelligence. I am very aware of that. My teams have always created chances and scored goals.
"This team will do the same. It's fair to say we have been lacking in some of the tough, free-flowing offensive players that we've had in the last few seasons.
"That's part of the challenge, and part of other bits we need to work hard on every day to improve it."
To make matters worse for Frank and Tottenham, winger Mohammed Kudus is set for a spell on the sidelines as Frank revealed that the Ghanian is set to miss at least two months of action with a quad injury.
Kudus missed the trip to the Vitality Stadium, with Frank confirming that he is not expected to return until after the March international break, while also providing updates on Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
"Lucas Bergvall is being assessed today. We will know more later today with him," Frank said. "Same with Rodrigo Bentancur. It looks like a hamstring injury, a bigger one. We don't know the timeframe of that one.
"Kudus is a bigger one in the quad. That's one where we expect him back after the March international break.
"The latest on Kulusevski, we know it's a complicated injury. If there's one person that can accelerate then it's Dejan. A top pro and top mentality.
"The most important thing is to remove the pain in the knee. We have an injection to help that 10 days ago. We will know in three to four weeks, it will settle. When it settles, he will be on the grass."
Injuries never come at a good time, but for Frank, losing Kudus now is a bitter pill to swallow.
Spurs have struggled offensively since Frank took charge, but Kudus has routinely been one of their brighter sparks. The former West Ham man leads the way with assists in the Premier League for the club, is top when it comes to take-ons and also third in chances created.
Add to that the fact he is also the biggest threat from crosses, delivering the second most in the team and completing the most, the fact Frank will be unable to rely on him at a time where he is being called out for a lack of entertaining football is a dagger.
Frank spoke about the 'ethos' of the club being one of entertainment, but a combination of his approach and the players he has at his disposal right now have meant that Tottenham games have become far from a must-see.
Unless Spurs choose to act in the transfer market and bring in a replacement for Kudus that fits said ethos, Frank may have to focus on ditching the idea of expansive football altogether and just try to win by any means necessary to buy himself the time he believes he has already earned.
Callum Bishop
