Eric Dier has conceded that talk of a crisis at Tottenham is fair after Spurs followed their humbling by Bayern Munich with a 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Saturday.
The Seagulls, who had not won at home since March, were ahead inside five minutes when Hugo Lloris failed to deal with Pascal Gross' difficult cross, teeing up Neal Maupay to tap in and dislocating his elbow in falling backwards.
Things went from bad to worse for Mauricio Pochettino as Brighton youngster Aaron Connolly scored the ninth and tenth goals conceded by Spurs in the space of just five days.
Questions have been asked of the manager, the boardroom and the players and while Dier admits this is the worst spell Tottenham have endured under Pochettino, he says talk of a rift in the squad is not true.
"We are obviously going through a difficult period," said the Spurs midfielder. "Is saying it's a crisis a bit too strong? No.
"If you lose like we've lost in these last two games, it's normal. For us, this is the worst period we've been in, but we have to be all together and push through it.
"The stuff about the squad, I know that's not the case. But it's natural these things will come up now because of the situation we find ourselves in.
"It's the first time that we've found ourselves in this position, we can't back down from it. We've got to push through it."
Spurs return to Premier League action against Watford on 19 October.
