Ange Postecoglou warned that Tottenham will not have a magic wand to get Tottenham’s top-four position back on track after their 2-1 home defeat to Wolves.
Spurs had returned to fourth place last weekend with a last-gasp win over Brighton but were overtaken on Saturday by Aston Villa, who won at Fulham.
Joao Gomes gave Wolves the lead with a header after 42 minutes and while Dejan Kulusevski equalized for Tottenham 34 seconds after the restart, Gomes scored his second after 63 minutes after a superb solo run from Pedro Neto.
The hosts suffered a frustrating defeat and failed to score in the first half in their last five home games.
“We will work hard, we have two weeks to prepare for our next game (against Crystal Palace) and there is no point in feeling sorry for ourselves,” Postecoglou insisted.
“You take the hits and you have to move on, regardless of what happened in the past. You have to make sure you are ready for the next game.
“There are no tricks, it’s hard work. I’m not a magician, I’m a football manager. It’s hard work that these guys have put in all year.
“Like I said, we’ve gotten to this point that’s pretty good thanks to hard work and we’re going to continue to do that.”
Spurs were without full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie and struggled to beat Wolves in the first 45 minutes, with home goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario making great saves to deny Nelson Semedo and Pablo Sarabia, while Gomes headed in Sarabia’s corner.
I’m not a magician, I’m a football manager
Ange Postecoglou
Tottenham fired up after the break, as they did in recent wins over Brentford and Brighton, with Kulusevski equalizing after dribbling past Craig Dawson and putting Jose Sa under pressure.
Postecoglou’s team began to gain momentum but Wolves remained a threat on the counterattack and after Vicario parried Sarabia in the 56th minute, the visitors scored their second six minutes later.
Yves Bissouma lost possession following a Spurs corner and Neto carried the ball half the length of the pitch before hitting back and setting up Gomes, who scored his second goal of the afternoon.
A number of attacking players were deployed by Postecoglou, but Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Toti and Neto all squandered promising positions for Wolves before Ben Davies headed wide in Tottenham stoppage time to ensure Gary O’Neil’s side The North London outfit scored a brace over goal.
Neto’s personal moment of glory was his ninth assist of the season, but his manager steered clear of potential suitors after they moved to 35 points this season.
O’Neil said: “I still want to push him and get him as close to the perfect winger as possible.
“Yes, I have been asked about the summer a few times this week and I have no interest in talking about Pedro Neto leaving the football club.
“He’s a fantastic player who we’ve spent a lot of money on, who we’re working very hard on and I don’t think we want to lose our best players.”
“We still have a long way to go this season and then hopefully he stays with us and we can continue to push towards the top half of the table.”
