Following Newcastle United's 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, Toon boss Steve Bruce was deflated after his side put in a strong showing against a side chasing European football next season.
The statistics don't lie and Bruce's men did dominate the game at St James' Park, however, the key moments where the difference between the two sides.
Speaking to NUFC TV at full-time, Bruce revealed his thoughts on the game and admitted that his players lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
"If you play like that and you get beat you have to accept it," said a frustrated Magpies' manager.
"They have quality upfront with Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane and that's what undid us.
"We played well and in a good manner, and we scored a good goal so I couldn't be more pleased with the players."
Fine margins the difference
Newcastle have never been known as a prolific side since their return to the Premier League in 2017, so in a game such as this one against Spurs defending well and being clinical would be key.
These were aspects of the game that they were unable to fulfil and despite having nearly three times as many shots as their opponents, they could only find themselves one goal which allowed them to be level for a matter of minutes.
"These sort of things are the difference at this level," Bruce admitted.
"Sometimes football's cruel and teams have to win and lose so sometimes you don't get what you deserve.
"This was a result that we definitely didn't deserve."
Effective change of system
Bruce's wing-back system has been criticised in recent weeks, in particular during the two recent fixtures with Manchester City.
This tactic was deployed in the team's latest fixture but Newcastle attacked their opponents more and this was something which did cause problems to the Spurs backline.
"The plan was to push the wing-backs on," the Magpies' manager revealed.
"We wanted to try and play on the front foot if we could to produce something different to what we have before.
"We also played Allan (Saint-Maximin) and Miggy (Almiron) in free roles and I was delighted with the way we played but unfortunately the result leaves a bad taste."
