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The young Tottenham goalkeeper had a night to forget in the Champions League last 16 first leg clash at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday
Kevin Danso knows the Tottenham players will gather around Antonin Kinsky in the aftermath of his humiliating night in Madrid.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper was making his debut in the Champions League proper but within six minutes slipped as he kicked the ball, sending it straight to Atletico's Ademola Lookman and the ball was worked to Marcos Llorente to score. Micky van de Ven then slipped on 14 minutes on the rain-soaked pitch and that allowed Antoine Griezmann to run through and fire home.
There was more pain in Spain to come for Kinsky though two minutes later as he made a complete mess of another kick, this time sending it two yards into the path of Julian Alvarez, who had the simple task of tapping the ball into the empty net.
Spurs interim boss Igor Tudor immediately hauled off Kinksy, replacing him with Guglielmo Vicario. The Croatian coach did not even acknowledge the young Czech as he walked straight down the tunnel crestfallen as some of the Tottenham substitutes ran after him.
Danso could only watch in horror as those early goals hit the back of the net in the 5-2 defeat and he quickly spoke to the goalkeeper as he trudged off.
"It's a very difficult moment for him. I think in football these kind of things happen, it's just about not letting it affect him too much. It's a difficult situation but we as a team will definitely get around him," said the Austria international. "These things happen, unfortunately it happened to him today but he's a great goalkeeper and he's definitely going to bounce back."
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On the quick substitution, the defender added: "From what I see, I think it was the manager's decision and we've got to respect that.
“Our main focus is just trying to gather something from the game, take some positives and get a few goals back for the return leg."
In all 3,000 Spurs fans made the trip to the Metropolitano, a number of them leaving before the game was done as their club's plight continues to worsen. Danso acknowledged that it is as difficult a time, perhaps more so, for the fans as it is for the players.
“Definitely. First of all, these things happen and we're working very hard and each and every one of us is looking at ourselves in the mirror, working hard and we want to turn this around," said the centre-back. "Everybody's giving everything they've got and I think it's down to us to dig a little deeper and give it just that bit more."
Spurs face nine huge Premier League games ahead to escape relegation and Danso believes that these kind of high pressure games are exactly why players get into the sport.
"I think that's why you become a professional footballer, you dream of big games and big moments," he said. “Sometimes there's difficult moments and this is the time to show character, belief and just trying to gather the boys up, dust ourselves off and go again.
“In a situation like this you show what type of team we are. We know that and it's all about us and it's all about what we can do and I think it's enough talking now. We've just got to talk to each other and give that little bit more and dig deep."
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