Nigel Adkins felt that his side came close to knocking down the door but were beaten by the clock against Spurs.
The gaffer focused on an encouraging second half display where a spirited Saints team tried to reverse a two goal deficit, something they were on course to do following Jay Rodriguez’s 66th minute strike.
Unfortunately the score remained 2-1 leaving Nigel to rue a lack of time in the ascendancy to draw level.
He told Saints Player: “We could have scored more, we had them on the rack, but unfortunately we ran out of time.
“The second half was very good I think and we gave ourselves the opportunity to win the game.
“What we did in the second half we had wanted to do in the first half so lets give Spurs some credit because they slowed the game down very well.
“I think we had good possession up until the final third where we just couldn’t find the breakthrough, which is something that we talked about at half time, but in the second half it was a good performance from the players.
“We wanted to get on the front foot, Nathaniel Clyne put a great challenge in on Bale in the early stages and you start to think things might go your way. We got on the ball and moved it because we wanted to get a high tempo going, which is what we did in the second half.”
The first Barclays Premier League goal from Rodriguez arrived in a strong spell from the hosts, and Adkins was pleased that the backing from the fans paid off.
“The second half was very rewarding, the supporters got right behind the players and the players lifted the supporters and we have scored one good goal through Jay Rodriguez.
“Jay has come in as a young lad and he works ever so well on the training ground and out there on the pitch, his movement is exceptional as far as I am concerned and he has a very good goalscoring record so we know he can score goals.
“Like everybody he needs a little bit of time but he is a special talent and he has a great future in the game.”
Cameos from Guly, Ben Reeves and Emmanuel Mayuka lifted Saints’ attacking display in the closing stages, with the manager paying tribute to the contribution of the latter.
“I think Mayuka coming on to the pitch has given us a big boost, he has tracked back and made a great tackle and was very positive in that three up top.
“He wants to play down the middle but we have introduced him down the right hand side today, he has had the impact that was required and he did that very well.”
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