Monday 14 December 2015 12:54, UK
Jan Vertonghen believes Tottenham's late collapse against Newcastle on Sunday was a one-off and uncharacteristic of this current team.
Eric Dier's first-half header looked to have put Spurs on course for victory at White Hart Lane but Newcastle substitutes Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez scored in the closing stages to snatch a 2-1 win.
The shock result ended Tottenham's 14-match unbeaten run in the league and meant Mauricio Pochettino's side missed the chance to move into the Premier League's top four.
Surprise home defeats have undermined the club's bid to reach the Champions League in recent campaigns - last season Spurs lost at home to West Brom, Newcastle, Stoke and Aston Villa.
The Newcastle defeat, however, was Tottenham's first league loss at home so far this season.
"You know you have to win these games if you want to stay in the top four," Vertonghen said.
"It has been the story for us in the last couple of seasons but there is a difference in this team.
"We feel this is just an incident and in the last couple of years - that was a bit different.
"We can start another good run now. Of course we wanted to keep the run going. Hopefully we can win a couple now."
Pochettino said he was not concerned by Tottenham's performance but there was some booing from supporters at the full-time whistle.
"It was just disappointment from the supporters. We were disappointed and they were as well. I can understand that," said Vertonghen.
"To lose a game like this is very painful. We felt very confident and it is hard to take."
It was the third time in five league matches that Spurs had taken the lead but failed to win and Vertonghen says they must be more clinical.
"We were trying to go for that second goal but it was Newcastle who had the better chances," the Vertonghen added.
"We were running forward trying to force something and it gave Newcastle the space, with their pace, to create more chances.
"Especially in the first half, we had to finish it. We did not score the second goal and Newcastle had the quality on the bench to turn things around.
"In my opinion, it had nothing to do with experience. We were just in that vibe and wanted to win. We started very well.
"When you try to go forward, you know you can give chances away sometimes."
