Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino praised his players after they were beaten on penalties by Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.
Spurs missed out on a place in the final and Pochettino’s wait for his first trophy as a manager goes on.
But he took pride in the performance in the semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, which came in the absence of injured duo Harry Kane and Dele Alli, and Son Heung-min, who is on international duty with South Korea.
“I’m proud of my players. I told the players that the way we came back after the first half, it was one of the best games we played,” Pochettino said.
The Argentine also backed Eric Dier, who blasted his kick over the bar during the penalty shootout.
Dier scored the decisive penalty for England in the World Cup last-16 shootout with Colombia but this time got it badly wrong.
Pochettino said: “Anyone can miss who takes the responsibility to shoot. For me, it’s not a problem.”
Left-back Ben Davies went off with a minor groin problem, Pochettino added.
Davies was replaced by Danny Rose, who crossed for Fernando Llorente to score, levelling the tie after N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard had scored for Chelsea in the first half.