Ryan Mason says Tottenham were unable to make a serious push for scoring a winner against Manchester United after being emotionally exhausted by their two-goal comeback.
Two down at half time on Thursday night, Spurs rallied and levelled through Heung-min Son 11 minutes from time.
Fans would have undoubtedly liked to see Mason’s side push on to attempt to claim all three points but they sat back instead, which the interim boss explained post-match.
He told reporters: “The second half we kept pushing, had some real clear openings and maybe if we got the second goal earlier we could have kept pushing.
“I felt once we had got the second goal the lads had sort of invested so much energy into it that we went a little bit flat and they took a little bit control of the game without really creating anything. To come off 2-2 off the back of going in 2-0 down at half time is a positive.”
Having brought Arnaut Danjuma on at wing-back in search of the equaliser, Mason replaced Son with defender Japhet Tanganga for the final minutes.
He continued: “It felt like we were almost acting a little emotionally to try and get that third, and sometimes that's great but at the same time I felt there were a couple of moments when we looked a bit leggy, a bit open unnecessarily.
“So we changed it a little bit - still try and win the game but at the same time recognise the game and moment we were in.”
