Ange Postecoglou said Friday that Tottenham have hard work to do if they are to become serious challengers for the Premier League title but believes the squad can learn from their current pain.
Spurs, fifth in the table, suffered a third consecutive defeat on Thursday, losing 2-0 at Chelsea, following a 3-2 loss at home to arch-rivals Arsenal last week and a 4-0 hammering at Newcastle.
The club look likely to miss out on a spot in next season's Champions League -- they are seven points behind Aston Villa with just four games remaining, though they have a match in hand.
Tottenham, early pacesetters in the Premier League this season, have not won a major trophy since lifting the 2008 League Cup and it is more than 60 years since they were last crowned champions of England.
"We're a long way off but it doesn't mean we can't challenge next year," said Spurs manager Postecoglou ahead of Sunday's match at Liverpool.
"I think in terms of the team I want us to be we're a fair way off, but I'm not dismissing the fact that we have to be competitive and challenge for success every year I am here."
The Australian, previously in charge at Celtic, added: "Every job I've taken has had tough bits. Sometimes at the start, sometimes in the middle, sometimes at the end.
"Nothing surprises me and it's a necessary part of it.
"It's how you grow. You don't grow by thinking everything's going to run smoothly. You need to go through these times and find out about yourself."
Postecoglou said he hoped his players would channel the hurt of their derby defeats by London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea.
"The big games will always be big games and you need to feel the pain, but understand that that sort of intensity will always be there when you're representing this football club," he said.
"I don't think anyone has shirked it and I don't think it's for a lack of effort or desire.
"But if you haven't been put in that situation before it's confronting, challenging and it's how you navigate your way through that."
