Ange Postecoglou felt Tottenham Hotspurs' defeat to Nottingham Forest was "self-inflicted", as the hosts went down 2-1 in north London.

Spurs suffered their fourth loss in five Premier League games, and 18th of the season - their highest total in a single campaign since 2003-04 (19).

The ball was in the hosts' net three times inside the opening 16 minutes with Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood giving the visitors a 2-0 lead, while the latter also had a volley disallowed for offside following a VAR review.

Tottenham were punished by two set-pieces. First, their failure to deal with a corner led to Anderson's strike, while they were caught out by a quick free-kick that allowed Anthony Elanga to cross for Wood to head home. 

The hosts responded well and controlled large periods for the remainder of the contest, registering 22 shots to their opponents' four.

However, it was not until Richarlison's 87th-minute header that they halved the deficit, and an equaliser subsequently eluded them.

"Another disappointing loss. A loss that, for large parts, was self-inflicted," Postecoglou said. 

"We conceded two poor goals and gave ourselves a mountain to climb. I still think we didn't deserve to lose on the balance of play.

"Our football was good, there's no denying that. We created loads of opportunities, we had them pegged in. But like I said, it was really disappointing to concede the two goals like we did.

"It's hurt us all year, we've let ourselves down. It's a game we should have won tonight. There shouldn't have been a slow start.

"That's the frustrating bit. It's not the only time it's happened this year. We have to accept the fact we haven't been at the level we should be.

"I don't like losing, we've lost too many games. We've got to keep working and try and rectify these things, so the football we play gets the results it deserves."

Spurs were fresh from their Europa League heroics on Thursday, when they booked their place in the semi-finals after securing a hard-earned 2-1 aggregate victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Dejan Kulusevski acknowledged fatigue may have been a factor on Monday, but insisted it was no excuse for Spurs being slow out of the blocks.

"[It was a] sloppy start," he said. "We conceded three goals in 10 minutes. Yes, one was offside, but then after that, it is difficult to get back in.

"We also played on Thursday night, but you have got to be ready from the start. You come back from a long trip at five in the morning, but if you are not on it then you will pay. That's what we did.

"We played some decent football today and created some good chances. They are a very difficult team to play because they are very good at defending and play a lot of men behind the ball.

"We created a lot of chances. Their goalkeeper made some good saves. I hate to lose. It is a bad feeling."