Published: 13 August, 2015
by DAN CARRIER

SUMMER signing Toby Alderweireld pulled the positives from Tottenham’s opening-day defeat away at Manchester United by insisting that wins won’t be far away if they keep playing the way they did at Old Trafford. 

Spurs suffered a narrow 1-0 loss on Saturday after some desperate defending from Kyle Walker resulted in the right-back poking the ball into his own net.

But Mauricio Pochettino’s side gave as good as they got, with Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane both forcing United goalkeeper Sergio Romero into smart saves. 

“You’re never happy with a defeat but we have to be happy with how we played,” said debutant Alderweireld, who renewed his central defensive partnership with Belgian compatriot and former Ajax team-mate Jan Vertonghen. “It’s always difficult at Old Trafford. We were right in the game, defensively we were strong and restricted them to very few chances which was good. If we keep at this level then the results will come.” 

Reflecting on his debut, Alderweireld added: “It’s difficult to talk about yourself after a defeat. The stats say it all – we didn’t give them anything and defensively we worked very hard. 

“We have to be confident for the Stoke game on Saturday now and when we get our chances, we have to take them.” 

Following the 1-0 defeat Pochettino vowed to dip back into the transfer market. “We need to add some new players, and we’re working hard to do this,” he said.