Thomas Frank took plenty of positives from Wednesday night's Carabao Cup defeat at Newcastle, suggesting that the tie was decided by "tight margins".
Few were optimistic as we made the long trip north in midweek, despite inflicting the first defeat upon Everton at their impressive new home at the weekend. Spurs entered the cup tie with a litany of absences, as Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert joined the injury list in the build-up.
A daunting schedule, with our fourth Champions League outing of the season sandwiched in between Premier League games against Chelsea and Manchester United upcoming, meant Frank had to shuffle his pack on Tyneside.
And while Newcastle's triumph was eventually comfortable, Frank insisted his side's performance was "good" and explained that, on another day, it may well have been the Lilywhites advancing into the quarter-finals.
Why Thomas Frank wasn't too downbeat after Carabao Cup exit
Speaking to the club after the defeat, Frank outlined his disappointment at exiting the Carabao Cup, but suggested that our performance on Wednesday night will serve as an encouraging one in the long run.
"We've come to St. James' Park and created more shots than them, looked much better in phase one and two. I think we looked more clear in our attacking ways. I think we entered some good situations and really tested [Aaron] Ramsdale at times," he said.
Spurs did record one more shot than their hosts (11 to 10), but were beaten 1.31 to 0.67 on expected goals. However, that won't take into account the 'nearly' moments for the Lilywhites in the Newcastle box. Richarlison was guilty of mistiming his runs constantly and was seemingly never in the right place at the right time to convert.
Frank is also spot on regarding the encouraging signs "in phase one and two". I thought we played with courage in possession on Wednesday night, and the manager's 3-2-4-1 possession shape is helping us progress through the thirds. We were able to create several promising moments via artificial transitions and through accessing Xavi Simons between the lines, but, as has often been the case this term, quality with the decisive action let us down.
There was a sense that momentum was being built towards the end of the first-half, but Antonín Kinsky's error of judgment, which allowed Nick Woltemade to head into an empty net, sapped our hope of a second-half renaissance. After Ramsdale saved well from Pape Matar Sarr and Richarlison, Newcastle were tough to bypass as they sat in their 4-5-1 mid block.
"Football sometimes is margins, and I think in a tight game it was margins," Frank added.