Changing the mentality of his Tottenham Hotspur players, not the style of soccer, will be the key to avoiding relegation, new manager Roberto de Zerbi said on Sunday after his first game in charge ended in a drab 1-0 defeat to Sunderland.

The loss stretched Tottenham's winless Premier League run to 14 games and left it in 18th place and in serious danger of the drop for the first time since 1977.

De Zerbi, hired to replace the hapless Igor Tudor who lasted only 44 days in the job after replacing Thomas Frank, got his first look at his players in the heat of battle at the Stadium of Light.

While he witnessed plenty of fighting spirit, there was little else to hearten the Italian, who now has six more games to save the club from the ignominy of second-tier soccer.

"My job is not now to change the style of play. I did two or three things with the ball, two or three things without the ball, but the crucial part is not with the ball or without the ball. It's in our mentality to be positive," he said.

"We have to find the right energy, the right spirit. When they stay with me during the week, they will find a positive coach, because I believe in them. They are human, and maybe they are suffering too much.

"We have to stay all together and close, and improve in the details of the football, but to be better, it's a mentality."

De Zerbi is probably correct to suggest that the time for wholesale changes to the set-up of the side is long gone.

After 32 games, Tottenham has 30 points and is two points behind West Ham in 17th spot.

It has picked up one point from the last 24 on offer and, unless he can pull the team out of their tailspin, survival looks highly unlikely.

Next up is a clash with De Zerbi's former club Brighton & Hove Albion and he could be without his captain Cristian Romero who left the field in tears after colliding with Spurs keeper Antonin Kinsky shortly after Nordi Mukiele's deflected shot had given Sunderland the lead.

"I hope for us it's not an important problem, because he's a crucial player for us. A good guy, top player, big personality and we need him to finish the season and to achieve our goal," De Zerbi said.

Reuters