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Thomas Frank full of praise for resilient Spurs

Thomas Frank was quick to heap praise on his Tottenham side after they kept their unbeaten away streak alive, defeating Everton 3-0.

The Danish manager was a much happier man compared to earlier this week when his team were held to a goalless draw in Monaco.

However, it was a strong reaction from Spurs. Three headed goals saw them hand Everton their first loss at the new Hill Dickinson stadium and climb up to third in the league.

ā€œI’m extremely happy with the win, very happy with the performance," said Frank.

"To be able to go away at any away ground in the Premier League and win 3-0 is quite remarkable and this against a good Everton side, the first time they lose here at the new stadium.

ā€œI was happier with the first half. I liked how we did in phase one and phase two - more control, more passes, good pressure. I really liked that bit. Obviously, set pieces were top, which is crucial.

"The second half was a little bit more of a dogfight, but I said it from the beginning, can we get that clean sheet mentality into the boys? If we can, then we will win a lot of games when we're not on top. There's a lot of things we'd like to improve but, overall, it was a good, solid away performance.ā€

Tottenham captain, Micky van de Ven was the standout player of the match, grabbing a brace to make it five goals for the Dutchman this season, while remaining solid defensively to keep a clean sheet.

The Lilywhites boss was especially pleased with his skipper.

"First and foremost, I think he's really growing and taking some big steps. I'm very pleased with him overall. I think he's taking more leadership. I think he's defending better and better, not only using his pace but also more clever positions.

"I said, actually at the beginning of the season, I said, it's okay you score with your left foot and your right foot, but you need to score more goals with your head.

"We have worked with it and that's a big praise to Micky, but especially to Andreas and the way he, how can you say, attack the ball, also get in there where it hurts, I think is key. Now, yeah, hopefully it will continue."

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