Postecoglou describes Werner’s first-half performance for Spurs as ‘unacceptable’ | Tottenham Hotspur

Ange Postecoglou’s problems deepened when Tottenham suffered a 1-1 draw at Rangers in the Europa League and the coach found it impossible to defend his striker Timo Werner.

“He hasn’t reached anywhere near the level he should be,” Postecoglou said after substituting the German at half-time. “Timo’s performance in the first half was unacceptable for me. I told Timo that he was a German international and that everyone had to do their best, and that was not an acceptable example. I expect a lot more from the seniors.

“But we didn’t give anywhere near our best. I think it’s fair to say that we’re in a period of games to get through right now. But given where we are in Europe and our squad is pretty exhausted due to injuries, that was an important point.”

Spurs are in ninth place in the early stages of the Europa League, but with two games remaining next month they will be hoping to finish in the top eight and go straight into the knockout stages and thus make the play-offs February to avoid.

A former Celtic manager, Postecoglou was greeted with chants of “sacked in the morning” as Hamza Igamane gave Rangers the lead before substitute Dejan Kulusevski equalized on a night when Fraser Forster shone with the visiting goal.

“It’s difficult playing against Rangers, especially here at Ibrox on European nights,” said the Australian. “Given the nature of the competition and the atmosphere, not many teams can come here and win, so you expect a tough game. It was a tough, close game for us and I think we did well to win it back after Rangers took the lead.”

Home coach Philippe Clement, whose side are eighth in the Europa League table, praised excellent promotion of the game north of the border. “I think we should have won and we deserved to win, but to play so well against a strong Premier League team was a very good advertisement for Scottish football,” said the Belgian. “I am very proud of the achievement. For us it is a big step up.

“My team is not happy with the draw, they wanted to win and were close to winning. We wanted to impose our football on Tottenham and create something for our strikers. We didn’t just want to protect our 18-yard area and wait for the ball to fall from the sky, and my players took this chance to show everyone that we can do something special with both hands. There is a lot of potential in my squad and tonight they played fast and made quick decisions.”

Postecoglou’s injury-plagued group faces Hoffenheim and Elfsborg in January. “I thought we worked our way back into the game and scored a good goal.

“It is fair to say that we are in a difficult situation. With player numbers low, players realize we are asking many of them to make repeated efforts and that is taking its toll.”