Ange Postecoglou has outlined he is 'disappointed' that Tottenham Hotspur blew all three points and drew 2-2 with Roma.
Tottenham led the match twice, first through an early penalty from Heung-min Son and then via a well-placed strike by Brennan Johnson.
However, Roma fought back, making it 1-1 through an impressive header from Evan N'Dicka in the first half, whilst, in the dying minutes, fellow centre-back Mats Hummels popped up at the right time to tap in the final equaliser.
Spurs eye Europa League knockout spot
Spurs now sit ninth in the Europa League table, knowing two wins is probably enough to qualify for the Round of 16. Despite this, Postecoglou, a frustrated figure post-match, was disappointed with the result.
"Yeah frustrated with the way the game ended. We should have killed it off a lot earlier," he outlined. "At 2-1, you're always keeping the opposition in the game and they're throwing men forward, so it's disappointing we weren't able to see the game out."
While Postecoglou is unsure about how many points Spurs will need to qualify for the top eight, he did admit that he thinks they are in a "decent position".
However, any suggestion that Spurs should become more pragmatic in their final three group game matches to qualify was quickly dismissed by the former Celtic coach.
"Why can’t it just be entertaining? Isn’t it why we all come? Would you really prefer us to sketch out a couple of 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win and we get through," he said jokingly.
"I don’t know. I would much rather we’re exciting to watch and maybe it is edge-of-the-seat stuff and sometimes we don’t get the reward, like we could have tonight, but no, if you want those kinds of games, there are plenty in world football you can watch every weekend. I’d like to think when you tune into us you’ll be entertained."
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Son has had a 'disrupted season'
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Son scored just his fourth goal of the season against Roma, displacing his early penalty confidently to give Spurs an early lead. However, it was far from a world-class performance from the captain.
In the closing minutes of the first half, following Dejan Kulusevski's shot that rifled off the inside of the post, he fired a rebound over the bar — an effort you'd expect him to score.
Postecoglou admitted post-match that he doesn't think Son is 'lacking confidence', but did suggest that he has had a 'disrupted season'.
"I don’t know if he’s lacking confidence. Sonny’s had a disrupted year for us, so that doesn’t help. He had some good chances tonight to get the goal and he’s getting in those areas," Postecoglou said.
"He’s got the quality to take those chances and we know he’s done it consistently for almost a decade, but he’s had a disrupted season being in and out. You can see he is getting back to full fitness now, which is the main thing for us.
"We’re quite thin in those wide areas, so he’s playing and we’ve got to make sure we are careful with him, Brennan [Johnson] and Timo [Werner] because they are the only wingers we’ve got left and will have for the foreseeable future.
"I thought tonight, it wasn’t just Sonny. There were quite a few really good chances, we hit the post three times as well and a couple cleared off the line. I still felt there were a couple of occasions where a bit more composure would have finished the game off."
Forster steps in for Fulham clash
Spurs are now next back in action against Fulham on Sunday. They will do so with Fraser Forster in goal again. Postecoglou was glad he made 'a couple of big saves' with the veteran goalkeeper now in between the sticks due to Guglielmo Vicario's long-term ankle injury.
