Ange Postecoglou praised the attitude of his Tottenham players despite their 4-2 defeat to Brighton.
Spurs were 4-0 down after 63 minutes through goals from Jack Hinshelwood, a double from Joao Pedro from the penalty spot and a brilliant strike from Pervis Estupinan before goals from Alejo Veliz and Ben Davies set up a nervous ending for the Seagulls.
Postecoglou has been dealt a bad hand with injuries this season, with the Tottenham boss fielding a back four of players who primarily play full-back against Brighton with centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven both sidelined with injury.
James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Oliver Skipp, Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon are also out with injury while Yves Bissouma missed out against his former club through suspension, and Postecoglou praised the efforts of his squad during a tough run.
“Everything they’ve got, the players are giving me at the moment,” Postecoglou said.
“I can’t ask any more of them. We’re in the position we are because of the enormous efforts of a really small section of our squad and they did it again today.
“They’ve shown it all year, that whatever they’ve got they’ll give and that’s all you can ask for.
“It’s been difficult this whole run. We’ve been stretched for a very long time but we’ve just tried to play on through it and that’s what we’ve done.
“We’re only the position we are because the enormous effort of the players to do jobs that, normally, is not in their brief, but they do it willingly and they give everything.
“For me, that’s all I can ask for. The players are giving everything they’ve got and it’s a credit to them.
“Today we fell short but not for the want of trying.”
