First Team Assistant Coach Kelvin Davis was left rueing the performance of Hugo Lloris as he oversaw a 3-1 defeat to Spurs on the eve of the Ralph Hasenhüttl era at Wembley on Wednesday night.
Davis called on his players to be committed and to “enjoy playing together” and, despite the scoreline, believed he saw that at the national stadium where Saints struck the woodwork four times and found Lloris in sensational form.
“I thought the whole performance was exactly what we asked from them in possession,” he said. “The goals we conceded were disappointing of course, but I think the lads showed that they are committed and they are good technical players who want to play with the ball on the ground.
“If it wasn’t for a world-class goalkeeper for Tottenham we certainly would have scored more than one goal tonight. If it weren’t for that, who knows what happens.
“Goals change games; the shot from Pierre with the score at 1-0, if finds the back of the net then you start to wonder. It was a performance that deserved more, in the end we got nothing and that’s what happens when you concede three goals.”
Ultimately, goals from Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-Min set up the win for Mauricio Pochettino’s side but Davis saw plenty of positives on which Hasenhüttl can build beginning from tomorrow ahead of Saturday’s crunch clash with Cardiff.
“I asked the boys to be a team and enjoy the game together and think we saw that tonight in spite of the goals conceded. There’s certainly enough there to encourage the new manager going forwards.”