Postecoglou brought off the struggling Yves Bissouma and Brennan Johnson at half-time against Fulham and sent on Bergvall and Son Heung-min.

The Spurs boss confirmed Bissouma was taken off due to his poor performance, saying: “I just feel Biss can sometimes let the game drift by him.

“He needs to be a little bit more dominant in the way he gets on the ball. At times I think the game gets away from him and today we needed more in that position.

“I needed him to play though, because he hasn’t played a lot. At the same time you’ve got to perform. It’s fair to say, Biss and a few others are probably lacking a bit of confidence.

“That’s affecting him, but we’re at the point of the season now where we need guys to get out there and put those things to one side and perform.”

Postecoglou added: “It’s not about getting through to him or a lack of effort.

“I just think with players sometimes they go through these spells and he needs to find a way to break through that and we need to find a way to get that out of him.”

It is becoming implausible for 13th-placed Spurs to qualify for Europe through the Premier League after taking just 10 points from their past 10 games.

However, Spurs would qualify for the Champions League if they were to win the Europa League, and they moved a step nearer that goal by knocking out AZ Alkmaar on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals.

Postecoglou, who has faced heavy criticism for this season’s domestic failings, is clear that Spurs must not throw away their last remaining nine Premier League matches.

“I said to the players I’m not going to allow anyone to think about Europa and nothing else,” he said.

“We can’t let this league season go the way it has. We have lost way too many games. Unacceptable.”