London [UK], March 12 : Tottenham Hotspur star midfielder James Maddison outlined the factors behind the club's struggle in the ongoing Premier League season. He also addressed Tottenham Hotspur's chances of qualifying for the next round of the UEFA Europa League, considering their 1-0 deficit after the first leg against AZ Alkmaar.
It hasn't been a dream run for Tottenham in the ongoing Premier League campaign under head coach Ange Postecoglou. The Spurs are tottering in the 13th spot with 34 points in 28 matches.
It has been a season riddled with injuries. Last December, the club endured an injury crisis when all four senior centre-backs were unavailable due to injuries.
Maddison believes injury has been a massive factor behind their dwindling season. The 28-year-old knows Tottenham could have played better in certain moments of some games but admits injury has been a "defining" factor in their campaign.
"Well it's a massive factor, and I don't want to sound like I'm making loads of excuses, but when you have such a long period of time in the busiest part of the year where you miss (Guglielmo) Vicario, (Cristian) Romero, (Micky) Van de Ven, (Destiny) Udogie, (Dominic) Solanke, Richarlison for long periods, not just one game or two games, it is a defining factor," Maddison told Sky Sports.
"Of course, we're not naive to not look in the mirror and think that we could have been better here, we could have been better there. Performances in certain games maybe could have been better, but it is a defining factor, and it's been a tough year for setbacks with injuries at this club. It's just factual," he added.
With Tottenham's current position in the standings, a spot in the top six appears to be a bleak hope for them. A successful quest in the UEFA Europa League is their best shot at continuing to play in European competition.
But Tottenham need to turn around a 1-0 deficit in the Round of 16 in their home stadium to keep their campaign alive. Maddison urged the fans to get behind the team on Friday as they aim to knock AZ Alkmaar out of the competition.
"Yeah, we know what it means to us, the fans, everyone, we're all on the same page. The first leg obviously wasn't good enough, tough conditions on a tough pitch to play the way we want to play, but it's only 1-0, they've got to come to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and if the fans get behind us and have the place rocking like we know they can," he said.