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The Tottenham right-back has been speaking about his angry reaction in midweek and the north London club's interim head coach
Pedro Porro has explained why he furiously smashed his dugout seat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and launched into a staunch defence of interim head coach Igor Tudor.
The Spanish right-back raged at the fourth official as he was substituted in Spurs' defeat to Crystal Palace and then returned to the dugout and punched his seat repeatedly. Some suggested that he was upset at being taken off by Tudor but Porro quickly explained exactly what was up.
"It was my own reaction and I just want to make it clear it was not about the manager," he told football.london. "I am a player who gives it all on the pitch, 200 per cent and we never like losing. It is just about that. So, just to end all the speculation that it was about the manager. It is a situation, we have never seen ourselves in this situation and it was just my reaction.
"[These months] have not been easy because of everything we’ve gone through. Of course during the whole season, I have repeated it. I had a minor injury a few weeks ago and I just need to be ready and I can tell you they have been tough times but this does not affect my mindset and my team-mates' mindset.
"We always want to do our best and of course the past few weeks have not gone our way, they have not gone as we expected and we just need to keep going until the end and do things as best as possible."
Despite defeats in his opening three matches at the helm, Porro believes that Tudor will take Spurs back in the right direction.
"Well, since I found out he was coming to the club, I knew he was going to be a manager that would help us a lot.," said the right-back. "All of the players know that we need to be on the right path with him. Again, he has only been in for three weeks and he just needs to learn everything about us and the other way around, but we’re on the right path."
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Cristian Romero is back after his four-game suspension and Porro believes that the Spurs captain will be a key difference maker in the battle against the drop in the weeks ahead.
"Cuti is a very important player for us. We know it, everyone in the squad knows it, he makes all the difference," he said. "We missed him a lot because he can give a lot to the team and we were missing him. We are delighted to have him back. He is hugely important for us."
The Tottenham defender was asked whether this whole period with so many injuryes had proved that a bigger squad is a better one.
"Yes of course. I think every people [think] like this. When you have too many players in the squad, as for the gaffer, it is easy but I think in the moment when I speak this, sometimes the translation from English to Spanish is a little bit different, but I think it is not the right thing or bad thing because when you have every player fit, it is good for us," he said.
Porro is looking forward to taking on Atletico and has warned his team-mates about what lies ahead at the Metropolitano on Tuesday night despite Diego Simeone claiming that Spurs are the favourites for the Champions League last 16 clash.
"We need to have the mindset for tomorrow’s game. I have warned the players that we are coming to a very tough ground to play in. I like watching football and I think we do have the proper mindset for this clash," he said.
"Well, as [Simeone] said, it depends on how you look at it. We were fourth on the table in the league phase and they had an amazing season. We just hope to give our best for tomorrow and I hope it goes well for us."
Spurs' European adventures have been a safe port of call away from their Premier League woes. While they lie 16th back home, one point above the drop zone, in the Champions League Tottenham qualified for this last 16 tie in Madrid by finishing fourth in the big league phase, above most of the continent's big guns.
Porro had no answer for the strange situation they find themselves in once again and the stark difference between their form domestically and in continental football.
“Well, I can not give you a final answer on this. We have not been able to achieve the consistency we wanted," he said. "It could be because of different circumstances, but in the Champions League we have competed well, we’ve done things right and this is the reason why we are here.
"We also need to look at the positive side. The team has competed well in Europe and we just need to put the icing on the cake in the Premier League and do our best."
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