Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino struggled to shake off the despondency he was feeling in the aftermath of his side’s heartbreaking 1-2 loss at the hands of Inter Milan in their UEFA Champions League clash on Tuesday night.

“I think we deserved more,” insisted Pochettino in his post-match interview with Spurs TV.

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“The team played so well, I am happy with their performance and their character but, of course, disappointed with the result.”

Spurs actually took the lead via a defected Christian Eriksen strike, but couldn’t build on their advantage at the San Siro and Inter punished them for their profligacy with late strikes from Mauro Icardi and Matias Vecino to claim three points.

“We created some chances (after Eriksen’s goal) and we didn’t score. When you don’t score and don’t kill the game when it’s only 1-0, the game is open.”

Things have started to unravel for the Lilywhites this season, with consecutive losses to Watford and Tottenham Hotspur leaving them six points off the pace in the Premier League title race already.

“That is why it’s so thin, the line, and always you need to be focused. For different reasons, we could not keep our result. Against Watford it was the same and, of course, today we repeated the same mistake.”

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And Tuesday’s defeat at Inter leaves them on the verge of missing out on the knockout stages, despite having played just one game.

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That’s because the other side in the group, Barcelona, are expected to finish first and they were impressive in their opening fixture, beating PSV Eindhoven 4-0.

“We were much better than Inter. In the last few minutes when we conceded the draw, they changed completely and it was a different game in the last few minutes.”

It was a mixed night for English clubs in the European competition as while Spurs lost, Liverpool edged Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 in a blockbuster tie.

And Pochettino insisted that Spurs have no time to dwell on their defeat as a Premier League fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion looms large on the horizon.

“But of course, we stay positive. It will be tough to play against Barcelona but we need to win, we need to try to give our best, but first of all we have Brighton on Saturday,” the Argentine manager added.