Published: 3 November, 2012

Premier League
Spurs 0, Wigan 1

By DAN CARRIER at White Hart Lane

SPURS need to play with more concentration and discipline to beat lower-placed teams, a disappointed Andre Villas-Boas said tonight (Saturday).

Speaking after a shock 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Wigan, he claimed his players had not applied themselves enough.

“They need to not play so much with their hearts, but with their heads,” he said.

He identified the team's inability to make possession tell with intelligent passing as his charges had plenty of the ball but failed to get past Wigan's packed defence. Instead, he said his players made “difficult” choices in possession.

“It was a poor performance,” he admitted.

“We did not keep the ball well or show the range of passing we have done before. We just could not find ourselves today.”

Missing Mousa Dembele, AVB started with Tom Huddlestone. But the central midfield injury saga got worse after Sandro, so pivotal in the team so far this term, stretched to clear a cross on 20 minutes and was soon hobbling down the players tunnel with a strain. With no Dembele, and Scott Parker's last appearance rapidly becoming a distant memory, AVB had hoped Huddlestone would rise to the occasion, or Gylfi Sigurdsson would show some of the magic he had at Swansea last year.

Neither will remember their lacklustre contributions.

In a quiet opening half, the best Spurs could conjure up was two skewed efforts from Clint Dempsey, and one spectacular volley from Jan Vertonghen.

Brad Friedel was the busiest goalkeeper, showing his shot-stopping capabilities with two great close-range blocks.

With Tottenham looking sluggish, a goal from the visitors was not out the question, and Spurs fell behind after 15 minutes of sloppy second-half play. A rare corner for Wigan was slung over, no one quite took command of getting rid of it, and while Ben Watson's close-range shot was blocked by Friedel, he then stumbled backwards over the line, as he tried to scoop the effort away.

Spurs had little in the way of an answer – Caulker's header, cleared off the line, was perhaps the closest the Lane came to seeing an equaliser – and there seemed to be an inevitability about this third successive defeat.

“We made mistakes,” admitted the downcast manager. “We showed some anxiety – but big games coming up against sides whom play like we do. We'll bounce back.”

Spurs: Friedel, Dempsey, Vertonghen, Huddlestone, Lennon, Bale, Gallas, Defoe, Walker, Sandro, Caulker. Subs: Lloris, Adebayor, Naughton, Dawson, Sigurdsson, Falque, Carroll.

Attendance: 35,534

Man of the Match: Jan Vertonghen was the best outfield, but Brad Friedel gets the nod for two excellent bits of shot stopping work.

SPURS COMMENT by Dan Carrier

IT is disappointing to see your team lose at home, against opposition you should hope to be putting away comfortably if you really are going to make it to the top four.

But to add to the bitter taste of a cold autumn defeat was the manner in which Spurs lost.

Spurs looked flat throughout, and it stemmed from a problem in the centre of the midfield.

Starting with Huddlestone alongside Sandro, you have two centre mids that sit back. When Sandro hobbled off, Sigurdsson came on, a just-back-from-injury Hudd with newbie Siggy didn't click.

Last term we had Parker and Modric. With no Demeble, we've yet to find the required balance in their positions.

Neither Hudd or Siggy were that midfielder driver, that leader, they needed. A goal down, Spurs lacked an answer in return.