Ramos happy after Levy meeting

Ramos, whose side have slumped to the bottom of the Barclays Premier League after going seven matches without a win, revealed he met the chairman on Thursday.

"It was very nice, very happy. He's very happy," said Ramos, rated by the bookmakers as favourite to become the next top-flight manager to lose his job. "We know the problem and we are speaking about looking for the solution but the meeting was nice."

If the Spurs slump continues it could force the club into the transfer market during the January window.

But Ramos said his side cannot afford to wait that long to improve the situation.

"The problem has to stop on Sunday, not January," said the manager, whose side visit promoted Stoke on Sunday.

Ramos knows it will be a far from easy task for a side whose confidence appears to have been undermined by a string of bad results, culminating in the 1-0 home defeat by Hull - another of last season's promoted teams - at White Hart Lane a fortnight ago.

But he will be backing his side to win the traditional Spurs way, by playing football rather than trying to match their robust opponents physically.

"To win matches you need to play football. Fighting is difficult because they are a very strong team. I think we need to play," said Ramos, who is refusing to buy into the philosophy that Spurs are too good to go down.

"We have to show that we are worthy to stay up, but if we are not winning games it doesn't count for anything. We need to win matches. We are very good in defence, in midfield very good but we need to improve and score goals."