Head coach Steve Cooper made it clear to his Nottingham Forest players they would be stewing over a costly first half on the trip back north, following defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Welshman pointed to a lack of aggression from his team in the opening 45 minutes. It left them 2-0 down at the break as Harry Kane's brace handed the hosts a comfortable lead.
The Reds did improve in the second half, with substitutions and a change in shape making a difference. However, Joe Worrall's header proved to be little more than a consolation after Son Heung-Min had made sure of the points, although Andre Ayew missed a penalty right at the death.
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"We looked a more aggressive and dynamic team in the second half. That was just down to doing the non-negotiables a little bit better,” said Cooper.
"There were still some guys in the second half who played in the first half as well, so it wasn't just the guys who came on. The first half was the phase of the game where the result was defined, because we needed to be a lot more competitive than we were.
"We always knew it was going to be tough, but you have to compete and back yourselves. I shouldn't really be talking about it, but, for me, that was the big attribute we didn’t do well enough in the first half, and it cost us.
"I think it's a missed opportunity in terms of playing better. I'm not going to say a missed opportunity in terms of coming here and getting the three points, because that would have been tough - although possible, and something we wanted to do.
"But it was definitely a missed opportunity in terms of playing better, because of the reasons I said. You don't need to give Spurs opportunities, and we did.
"That's where the missed opportunity is, in the first half being a bit more aggressive and being on the front foot. I said that to the lads straight after the game.
"I said to the lads, we'll go back on the bus thinking we should have done better in the first half, give a bit more. It starts and ends with things like that.”
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