Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham were worthy of a point after watching his side concede a late Mario Balotelli goal in their 3-2 defeat at Liverpool on Tuesday.
Pochettino's men twice came from behind to level and looked to set to earn a share of the spoils from an enthralling Premier League clash until substitute Balotelli smashed home the decisive goal seven minutes from time.
Harry Kane cancelled out Lazar Markovic's 15th-minute opener before Steven Gerrard restored Liverpool's advantage with a penalty shortly after half-time.
Moussa Dembele appeared to have made sure of a point by levelling again eight minutes later, only for Balotelli to settle the contest with his first Premier League goal for Liverpool.
And Pochettino felt the result was harsh on Tottenham, who are now just a point clear of Liverpool as both teams chase a top-four berth.
"We are disappointed with the result because I think one point would have been fair for both teams," Pochettino said in quotes reported by BBC Sport.
"It was a great game, we played well but this is football. The players are very disappointed, sad and tired but we have to accept football is like this.
"I am proud of the effort and we have to look forward. The only thing we need to improve, in the first half we gave Liverpool some chances and made some mistakes. We deserved more from this game."
