Ange Postecoglou praised Kevin Danso’s “really positive” debut for Tottenham on an otherwise miserable night against Liverpool.
Spurs beat Arne Slot’s side in the first leg to boost their hopes of reaching the Carabao Cup final at Wembley and lifting their first piece of silverware since 2008.
But they were beaten 4-0 at Anfield to fall to a heavy aggregate defeat, with the visitors failing to register a single shot on target.
Cody Gakpo levelled the tie up in the first-half, before Mohamed Salah struck from the penalty spot and goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk cemented Liverpool’s dominance.
Despite the scoreline, Danso was among Spurs’ best players on the night as he made his first appearance for the club, while Mathys Tel was forced into action off the bench before half-time after Richarlison limped off.
Asked for his opinion on the Spurs debutants, Postecoglou responded: "Yeah they did OK.
“Kevin was really positive, as was Maty. It's hard, you know, throwing guys in after their first trainings sessions, it's not ideal.
“That's part of our dilemma at the moment of trying to get some fluency and consistency but also knowing we have to keep tinkering with the starting line up to account for everything going on.
“But I thought they acquitted themselves well."
Much has been made of Postecoglou’s comments earlier in the campaign that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club.
The Carabao Cup appeared to present Tottenham’s best hope of achieving that, with the pressure now piled on ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup trip to face Aston Villa.
“We have given up a good opportunity tonight and we cannot shy away from that,” Postecoglou said of the club’s trophy ambitions.
“We were in a good position to get to the final.Nobody needs to pick me up, I just need to pick up the players."
