Kenyan captain Victor Wanyama is disappointed with Tottenham’s Hotspur’s early European exit.
The North London side crushed out of the second-tier cup competition at the hands of Belgian side Gent following a 2-2 draw at Wembley Stadium losing the two-legged tie 2-3 on aggregate.
Wanyama netted the second goal of the game as Spurs suffered a blow with the sending off of Dele Alli and he believes the effort they put in especially when with a man down, they should have bagged a win.
During the post-match interview, Wanyama said that the team strongly believed they could advance to the Europa League round of 16 despite being a goal down after the first leg.
“We played the game so well and we kept on believing that we can make it but it is disappointing we are out. We showed a lot of character especially when we were ten men and I think we deserved a win,” he said.
Spurs were relegated to the competition after failing to progress to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 after a disappointing third place finish in their group.
Player of the month
Wanyama was last month named the English Premier League (EPL) African Player.
Wanyama beat other contenders such as Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, Chelsea’s Victor Moses and Manchester City’s Yaya Toure for the award according to New African Soccer.
Wanyama has been a consistent and reliable figure at the heart of the Tottenham’s defence, helping the North London side to their current third place position, ten points behind table toppers Chelsea.
Tottenham’s manager Mauricio Pochettino has hailed the Wanyama and Mousa Dembele's central midfield partnership as key to Spurs’ performance this season.
While Pochettino's attack and defence are expected to have their praises sung following another impressive performance the Argentine coach has acknowledged Wanyama and Dembele were central to his side's success.
Wanyama is the only player to feature in all of Tottenham's Premier League games this season and continues to go from strength to strength, with few able to match his physicality.