Ryan Mason has been speaking to the press after the 2-2 draw against Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and suggested Spurs could have pushed on to win the game.
Tottenham were looking to bounce back after a crushing 6-1 defeat against Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon, a result which saw interim manager Cristian Stellini lose his job.
Mason’s first game as Acting Head Coach did not get off to a good start however, and Spurs found themselves 2-0 down at halftime after goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
A much improved second half saw the Lilywhites claw their way back into the game thanks to a fine finish from Pedro Porro after 56 minutes.
Heung-min Son rounded off a neat team move with a little over ten minutes to go to secure a well-earned point for the home side.
In the end, the game could have gone either way, but Mason appeared to be happy enough with the result after the debacle at the weekend.
He told Football.London: “It has been difficult after Sunday as the manner of the defeat wasn’t nice.
“The most important thing now and until the end of the season is to act as a team. Small details can change results. The most important thing to me will always be together.
“We created many chances. The second half we kept pushing, had clear openings and maybe if we got the second goal earlier we could have kept pushing.”
When asked what he told the players at half-time, Mason added (Football London): “I’ve always remained quite consistent with this group of players and I always will.
“You have to stick together in every moment. If you want to be a team regardless of what is happening on the pitch, you have to stick together and fight for each other.
“When you do that, football is football, results take care of themselves but to see a team that was working for each other, and I felt our fans must have seen a team that was fighting for each other and running for each other, it’s important in football. Probably the most important thing.”
Spurs Web Opinion
There’s a sense we could have pressed on and taken all three points there last night, but a draw from the position we were in at halftime is satisfactory.
Most importantly, we saw some real fight and passion from the players tonight and I think that’s all the fans wanted to see after what happened on Sunday.