O’Neill: ‘I cannot fault them’

Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill praised his troops after they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat in the capital, saying his side ‘couldn’t have done more’ to secure a share of the spoils.

The Black Cats went down to a 61st minute goal from substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko and despite playing second fiddle for much of the game, were resilient throughout.

Speaking to The Offcial Site, O’Neill said:

‘We put a big, big effort into the game, I thought, before they scored and certainly in the last 25 minutes of the match.’

The Ulsterman also reserved praise for Harry Redknapp’s side too:

‘Tottenham are a very fine side. Overall I’m disappointed that we didn’t get something from the game, particularly when it looked as though the storm had been calmed.

‘I thought the way we played was very encouraging and I told the players so in the dressing room.’

Sunderland are in action in London for the second time in a week as they visit Loftus Road and Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday evening.