Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has responded to questions over his criticism of Timo Werner, saying he needs players who are up for the "fight".

Postecoglou removed Werner at half-time of Thursday's 1-1 draw at Rangers, after which he called the forward's performance "unacceptable".

The manager said on Friday: "It can't be ability. You don't play for Germany, you don't play for big clubs.. .whether it's a combination of confidence or belief, at this moment we don't have the luxury of that.

"You're out there, you're playing, you're fit, we don't have the luxury. Not just him, any player at this moment. He's got an opportunity to play and it's not like a bad performance then I'll leave you out the next game - I've got no one else to put in.

"We need all that stuff to be put aside. Whether you've got a lack of confidence, lack of belief, whatever it is, to say, 'well, are you in this fight?' Because we are in a fight.

"We've got a limited number of players to call on, some big games coming up. We can set up our season, I just need people to have that level of commitment and application, and find their way through. As much as I'm talking about Timo, I'm talking about the whole group.

"The norms of football - poor performance, you get left out - they don't exist in our environment right now. I need players going out there and putting that to one side."

On often starting with Werner on the bench:

"He has been, but at the same time he still had the ability to come on and affect games - and he has. He did that against [Manchester] City and in other games.

"In Europe, midweek games, he's there to start and make an impact. I get that a lot of discussion is around him but last night wasn't about Timo Werner, it's about the situation we're in and what's required at this time. It could have been someone else. There are other players that could have also given more to what we were trying to do last night.

"I felt with him, particularly because he hasn't played a lot, there should have been some freshness around him that he could have made a real impact. I know that he's a top player."