Tottenham saw their solid form come to an end when Graham Potter's side travelled to north London on Saturday. Brighton beat Spurs 1-0 with a 90th minute winning goal from Leandro Trossard.
The Lilywhites failed to have a shot on target throughout the whole match and produced a display which was poor as a team, but also included lacklustre individual performances. Tottenham do still sit fourth in the Premier League, with Arsenal also losing to Southampton on Saturday.
Spurs have six fixtures left of the season, including a trip to Anfield and the long awaited rescheduled North London Derby. Antonio Conte will need his side to bounce back when they travel to the Brentford Community Stadium for their next fixture.
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Although Tottenham didn't have a single shot on target during the game, they had dealt with much of what had been thrown at them from Graham Potter's side. Brighton had 12 shots, with five on target and 51 per cent possession.
However, Spurs couldn't hold on to secure the point they were going to get from the match, after Trossard's goal flew past Hugo Lloris. After the game, the Tottenham boss gave his verdict on his side's performance.
"Certainly not a good result for us and a lesson that we can learn today that there are games that if you're not able to win, you're not to lose. It was very clear that today wasn't our day, but I understand we wanted to try and get three points because it was very important for us to get three points playing before our rivals in the race for the Champions League," Conte admitted in his post match press conference.
"Today the game was very difficult because it was a tactical game for both sides. Maybe a more fair final result was a draw, but Brighton played a good game. They're a really good team, well organised with a good manager, and if you win against Arsenal and Tottenham away, it means your team is a good team."
At such a crucial point in the season Conte's admission about if his side don't win, they need to make sure they don't lose, was something Spurs failed to do on home turf. One point is always better than none, especially during the current battle for a spot in the top four.
This was also something that both Lloris and Eric Dier reiterated in their post match interviews with Spurs TV. "It was a very average performance to be honest," the Tottenham skipper admitted. "The only regret is that in that type of game if you can't win, you don't lose. That's the key.
"We are talking about consistency. It can happen to have a bad day but to throw away all the effort that we made in the last few weeks by losing this game is a big disappointment," Lloris added.
It was just over a month ago that the Lilywhites beat Brighton 2-0 at the AMEX Stadium and had won another three games before Saturday's tie. However the common problem of consistency at Spurs resurfaced and their poor performance led to the defeat.
"Frustrating day. More than frustrating. We didn't start well. I think we got a bit better in the second half but still below the standards we've set recently and we have to react to this now," Dier said. "I thought we were very sloppy from the beginning. Made silly mistakes. Defended well until the goal really and if you can't win, don't lose and we made that mistake.
"There's no time to be feeling sorry for ourselves. We have to understand how we need to do better and I think we know and take that into this week and the next game," the defender added.
Just a few months ago Tottenham were trying to get out of the rut of winning one game and losing the next, sitting around seventh in the table. Now they are fourth and despite the Brighton defeat, have been in good form recently, with improvements to individual performances and the team displays.
Therefore Conte needs to work with his side this week, to best prepare them for their game against Brentford, where they need to secure the three points and get back to the good form they were in, for the final six games of the season.
