The pressure has been on for Pierre Sage - but out of adversity he is aiming to improve his skills as a coach and bond together a Crystal Palace squad to go and achieve future success. 

The Carabao Cup win at Fulham on Wednesday night helps. After four games without a win across all competitions, scrutiny was rising. A step into the quarter-finals brought some relief.

A 5-0 hammering at rivals Brighton earlier this month had been a painful low and, after the glory years under Oliver Glasner, the start to the Sage era had alarm bells ringing in some quarters.

But for the Palace head coach, it could be these days which provide the foundation to launch from.

"Maybe you will think my answer is crazy but I think it's an opportunity for me to become a better coach," he told Sky Sports.

"Faced with the difficulty, the problem, you have to find a solution I didn't anticipate. It's an opportunity to challenge my ideas, my way of doing [things], some adaptation...

"I know the most important thing is the results, that we need to change things to become the team we're able to be. I have to take the good decisions at the good moment in this period because the player needs [me to].

"This situation is maybe a positive opportunity for me. Every day I want to improve and become a better coach and help the players and team to become better too."

Sage reckons Palace began to look more like the side he wants them to be in the second half at Craven Cottage. They are small steps but signs of encouragement after a difficult period. He is convinced the work he and his squad are doing behind the scenes is setting them up for positive weeks ahead.

"A lot of time you think you work for nothing but you work always for tomorrow," he said. "You create the roots of something big.

"When you're in this mindset and everyone understands this kind of thing, the pressure is not where everybody thinks - it's on what you do daily."

On Saturday, he takes his Palace side to another team who endured a difficult start to the season but who are also hoping they are experiencing the start of a transformation to their fortunes: Tottenham Hotspur.

Sage is familiar with Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi, having travelled to Italy earlier in his career to study his coaching methods.

"He was a model for a long time," said Sage. "I went to Rome, to Sassuolo. I wanted to understand how he plays."

Sage then added with a smile: "All these guys are opponents during two hours but all of them [have] good ideas and I just have to rob them, their good ideas and create a context here to be efficient."

The Frenchman is eager to bring his own distinctive style to south London. "We're not here only to try to win but to win in the way decide. That's really exciting to manage this gap," he said.

Achieving that goal will take time. But Sage - off the back of that Fulham win - is confident it can be achieved with commitment to the process and unity around the club.

"We have to stay calm and confident with what we do and what we have to do," he said.

"The club and the fans have to be together. We're a big family, we love the badge, we fight every day for the badge.

"We are all here for the same things: we want to see this team really competitive on the pitch, win games, win titles and share good moments all together to have things to explain to our family when we will be old."

A win away at Spurs this weekend would be a significant step in the right direction.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace live on Sky Sports on Saturday from 5pm; kick-off 5.30pm