Roberto De Zerbi and Conor Gallagher speak on ‘encouraging signs’ despite unwanted 52-year Tottenham first

Roberto De Zerbi is not sweating over Tottenham’s poor start to the season – despite Saturday’s 0-0 draw away at Nottingham Forest.

Spurs may have picked up their first point of the season in their third fixture, but they delivered yet another performance void of attacking quality.

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Their afternoon could have even ended in another defeat had Forest not had a goal ruled out for handball from Neco Williams in the second half.

With three games played, Spurs have not scored a single goal in the Premier League this season.

The last time they failed to find the back of the net in their opening three league games of a campaign was the 1974/75 season.

They went on to finish 19th in the First Division and just a point above the relegation zone.

It’s also the first time since November 2021 that Spurs have gone three league matches without a goal.

Spurs’ draw leaves them in 17th spot in the table – the same position they have finished in each of the two last years.

What has Roberto De Zerbi said about Tottenham’s draw?

Having previously lost 3-0 to Brentford and 2-0 against Newcastle United, Spurs will somewhat celebrate the fact they weren’t beaten by Forest.

And when asked about the importance of looking for encouraging signs when the team isn’t scoring, De Zerbi hinted that they remain a work in progress.

“I think we are working to build a different Tottenham than the last two seasons,” he told talkSPORT’s Geoff Peters.

“And even (though) we made a great window of the transfer market, we need time.

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“Because the football team becomes a football team with the time, with the relationship with the players, between the players, the connection between the players to find a balance because it’s not so easy to find a balance with a lot of new players.

“I’m excited to work with these players.

“And if you analyse the history of the Premier League in the last ten seasons, ten years, many big clubs, they wanted to rebuild the team.

“Sometimes they finish in a good way, sometimes not, but anyway, they spent the time to become top.”

Midfielder Conor Gallagher was given a similar line of questioning and saw enough against Forest to be confident going forward.

He remarked: “We’ve had a difficult start. We’ve not played how we would have liked and how we thought we would.

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“But I’m glad it’s happening now so we can sort it out and we can improve and we can work as hard as we can to get better and to get more points and win more games and do everything we need to do.

“Like I said, today was a step in the right direction with a better performance.”

Spurs will be desperate to end their goal drought next Saturday when they host Everton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.