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Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood wants the club to remain patient if he is to succeed at White Hart Lane.

Spurs are seven points adrift of fourth place in the Premier League after they lost 1-0 against Arsenal on Sunday.

"The building process has to start in pre-season," said Sherwood. "Liverpool took a step back to move forwards. It requires patience.

"Whether Spurs want to do that I don't know. Whether they want me to be the person to do it remains to be seen."

Sherwood signed an 18-month contract when he replaced Andre Villas-Boas in December and made a strong start to his managerial career at Tottenham, losing just three of his first 12 games.

But their form has dropped off in recent weeks, with the eight days before the Arsenal match proving particularly testing.

Spurs lost 4-0 at Chelsea on 8 March, prompting Sherwood to accuse his side of "lacking guts and character", and that was followed by a 3-1 defeat at home to Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday.

Sherwood clashed with Benfica coach Jorge Jesus in that game and became visibly frustrated at times on the touchline against Arsenal.

"I've learned more in this last week as a manager than I did when we were going through the easy period when we were winning games," he said.

"I've got the character for it and I want everyone to come along with me.

"I'm not crying about it - I knew what I was getting involved in. I'm playing the hand I was dealt.

"I'm always on trial, from all angles. I knew that would be the challenge but it's one that I relish."

To Tottenham's credit, they responded well to Tomas Rosicky's second-minute goal on Sunday and had several chances to equalise.

Nacer Chadli had a shot blocked on the line by Laurent Koscielny, while former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor headed wide and had a long-range strike saved late on.

"We were better than them," said Sherwood. "I thought we played well, we created chances, played on the front foot and defended together.

"I think the result for Arsenal is going to paper over a lot of cracks. They were outplayed today and they've got to admit that.

"We've outplayed Arsenal and they're title contenders."