Bob Bradley: Swansea City will respond

Bob Bradley insists Swansea City will be ready for a potentially pivotal spell in their season despite their painful 5-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Swans are back at the bottom of the Premier League table after they suffered their heaviest defeat of the season on a grim afternoon at White Hart Lane.

They host fellow strugglers Sunderland next weekend in the first of a sequence of games against teams who are either in mid-table or below.

The Spurs mauling is a setback for the Swans after their rousing victory over Crystal Palace - but Bradley insists his players will be primed for the Black Cats clash.

"We knew it was going to be difficult to come here and take points, because everyone finds it difficult to come to White Hart Lane and take points," said the Swans boss.

"But we had a good effort at Goodison Park and then we were able to find a way to come back and win against Crystal Palace.

"There is confidence from those two games, and it's not all lost in a game like today's.

"We know it's all to play for in the next five or six matches between now and the start of the new year.

"We will be ready against Sunderland, which will be the start of an all-important run of games that are going to spell out what's happening.

"We have made progress (since I arrived) and now we have to prove it.

"I am honest and I will say that we were not good enough today. 

"But I think this game was a different kind of challenge. We didn't meet it, but now we have to put everything into making sure our mentality is right for the games ahead."

The Swans were level at the Lane until Spurs won a highly contentious penalty - given for a foul by Kyle Naughton on Dele Alli - and Harry Kane swept home from the spot on 39 minutes.

The hosts were 2-0 up by half-time thanks to a fine volley from Heung-Min Son, and Kane steered in Spurs' third goal early in the second period.

Christian Eriksen bundled home Tottenham's fourth goal on 71 minutes before completing the scoring in stoppage time.

"We all know that to get where we need to go, we cannot concede the number of goals we have in the last two games," Bradley added.

"Last week was a wild one, with a lot of the goals coming from set-pieces. 

"But when you look at the goals we have given away, we have often had people back but we've not been able to make the play that was needed.

"Today was different. We had to play on the edge after they went in front, but when the bar was raised we were not good enough.

"We knew Spurs are a team who were going to press us with intensity, but we just were not good enough in our response to that.

"We were second best too often. We were not able to play the first pass under pressure.

"In that respect there's a lot to look at in terms of a target to be better.

"But now we have to focus on the important run of games we have coming up."

The Swans were bitterly disappointed with the penalty award which set Spurs on the way to victory.

Bradley said: "I think it was the wrong decision. I don't think the ref was in a good position and certainly it's a game-changer.

"It's a game-changer, along with Son's strike a few minutes later, because it means we have to really push on and play on the edge.

"We brought on Fernando Llorente to change the way we were playing a little bit, to see if we could go and fight for the next goal, but then all too quickly they go on a counter and it's three."