Nuno Espirito Santo rues Tottenham's poor display in Pacos de Ferreira defeat

Nuno Espirito Santo has admitted that the feel-good factor has disappeared at Tottenham, after they slumped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Pacos de Ferreira in their UEFA Conference League playoff. 

Espírito Santo shuffled his pack for the game with none of the 11 starters from their Premier League win over Manchester City playing any part.

Five players were also handed debuts, including new signings Pierluigi Gollini, Cristian Romero and Bryan Gil. Young pair Dane Scarlett and Nile John were also called upon. Spurs produced a disjointed display at best, mustering just three shots on goal during the contest. 

After the game Espirito Santo revealed his displeasure at the performances, saying: "Of course it impacts [the mood] a lot. Nobody likes to lose a game or not play good.

"The feel-good factor disappears. This is football. It is up and down but how you realise that this is the situation, they have to bounce back. This is what we are going to do. The good part of football is that it gives you the chance immediately, and we have a chance on Sunday."

He added: "First half we lost too many passes – and the goal came from that. We were imbalanced. But not a good performance, honestly not a good performance."

Despite the poor result, Espirito Santo insisted that he did not regret rotating his team so comprehensively. 

"The decision was basically trying to give them minutes. We need players to get minutes in their legs and increase their levels of fitness,” he said. 

“I would decide exactly the same [again] because the main question is to use the squad as we have a long way to go and we need all the players involved."

Spurs will be looking to bounce back from Thursday’s disappointment when they travel to Espirito Santo’s former club Wolves on Sunday.