Ryan Mason says Tottenham players are in 'pain' following 1-0 defeat to Manchester City
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Updated 25/04/2021 at 21:48 GMT
Tottenham Hotspur interim head coach Ryan Mason has admitted his players are downcast following their 1-0 Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City. Aymeric Laporte's header with less than 10 minutes to play inflicted to a heartbreaking loss to Spurs who had held their opponents at bay for much of the game.
'I know how it feels' – Mason on that familiar feeling for Spurs in a final
Ryan Mason has spoken about how much the Tottenham players were hurting following their late defeat to Manchester City in the League Cup final.
Aymeric Laporte’s 82nd-minute header handed Spurs a heartbreaking defeat after they had battled hard to keep Pep Guardiola’s side at bay for much of the game.
Mason, who had only been given the job on a temporary basis a few days earlier following the sacking of Jose Mourinho, admitted that his players were downcast following the Wembley loss.
“Pain. It hurts.” Mason said. “I’ve been sitting in there as a player, I’ve played for this football club and lost a final, I know what it’s like.
It’s normal that they’re hurting. It’s normal, because it shows that they care. And this group of players care deeply about this football club.
“I think we saw that today, they gave absolutely everything, 100 per cent commitment. We tried, we tried, it wasn’t enough today, that’s tough to take.”
Heading into the match, Spurs had the opportunity to end a much discussed trophy drought dating back to 2008.
However, facing a rampant City side, Mason’s team were on the back foot for much of the match and their resolve finally broke late on when Laporte rose highest to head home Kevin De Bruyne’s free kick from the left hand side.
“It was a difficult match,” the 29-year-old admitted. “I thought in the first half we rode our luck on a couple of occasions. We made some really crucial blocks.
“It was difficult, they had long spells in possession but there were times when it was controlled and we were trying to cause them problems."
He added: “It was difficult to concede from a set-play, that was tough to take.”
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