Tottenham star makes worrying admission after Monaco draw

Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario kept a clean sheet in Monaco, but has now acknowledged that his side are finding it tough to cope with their demanding fixture list.

The Italian shot-stopper delivered a superb performance in Monte-Carlo on Wednesday night, pulling off eight stops to secure his team a valuable European away point following a 0-0 draw. However, he's now confessed Spurs must come to terms with playing three times every week ahead of Sunday's tricky journey to Everton.

Vicario said: "There are periods in the season you know and it is not always easy. We play every three games and the level we want always to be as high as you can, but sometimes we cannot hit the best and today was this.

"We will work on it but we know what could be our level and today it was of course not top. We will work on it, assess it and we will go again on Sunday."

Tottenham remain positioned well in mid-table in the Champions League after winning one match and drawing twice.

Yet after also sharing the spoils against Bodo/Glimt, a team they defeated home and away in May to reach the Europa League final, progression is far from guaranteed at this stage.

Vicario maintains Tottenham are aiming for a top-eight position so they can avoid the play-off stage and advance directly to the last 16.

He went on to say: "It would be the best option, of course and we will try. Eight out of 36 is not even the 25 per cent of teams. So, it is a big effort to do it. We will try, but the important thing is to be there, to stay there and to fight for this Champions League."

When questioned about Spurs' performance in Europe, the unyielding 29-year-old responded: "It always depends on how you see things, I don't see it this way. I think in the Champions League we play two away games.

"It is always tough to get points and we manage to get two, so seeing it from this perspective, it is a good amount of points.

"Of course, we managed to win against Villarreal. I think we played a good game that night and won 1-0 so it was enough. Now we have five more to play and we will try our best to get the maximum points.

"It's always a good point when you're away in the Champions League, it's good for the table and we'll take it.

"It was not the best performance from us, we know it and we have to work on it. We will do it."