Mauricio Pochettino insisted Tottenham’s persistence meant he was always confident they would come up with a goal against Brighton.
Christian Eriksen’s late strike clinched a dramatic 1-0 victory for third-placed Spurs and kept them very much on course for a top-four finish.
The goal came after Spurs had peppered relegation-threatened Albion, who defended in numbers and looked set to earn a point.
However, asked if he was beginning to think his team wouldn’t find a goal, Spurs boss Pochettino told Sky Sports: “Not really, no. I always hoped to score.
“In 88 minutes I was thinking ‘(We’ll score) in the next action’. We never give up and that is important of course.”
The result maintained Tottenham’s perfect record at their new home and means their destiny in the battle for the top four is in their own hands with three league matches of the season left to play.
Pochettino said: “At the end the reward is massive because the three points for us puts us in a very good position in the table. The three points means a lot for us.
“You cannot guess what will happen. We must be focused and try to win the next three games.
“If we can win the three games then we are not going to think about our opponents.”