Martinez left encouraged and frustrated after Tottenham defeat

Roberto Martinez reflected with encouragement on a confident second-half display by his team at White Hart Lane on Tuesday night, but was frustrated that Latics could not have shown the same intensity from the start and avoid a 3-1 defeat.

"The second-half performance was exactly what we wanted to show today," said Martinez, "it's a tough place to come and play football there's no doubt about it, but regardless of that we were very disappointed with our first-half show.

"There wasn't enough intensity in our play and you get punished for that against the top teams.

"After the break was completely different; we got rid of that feeling and looked as though we could cause Tottenham a lot of problems.

"We got a goal back and probably created enough chances to have scored another two which is frustrating because we needed to apply ourselves like that for the full 90 minutes."

One big flash point in the second-half involved Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Franco Di Santo, the Cameroonian defender caught the Latics striker dangerously and Martinez believes his front-man was lucky to have walked away from the situation, perplexed no decision came from the referee:

"Lee Probert was in a good position and unfortunately we didn't get another big decision go our way.

"It was a clear red card, the challenge was high and Franco was very lucky to be able to walk away from the situation - I've seen many challenges like that one end up with a broken leg and it's hard to understand how the referee has missed it."

Looking at the positives, Martinez was delighted for James McArthur who scored his first Wigan Athletic goal ten minutes before the end, just reward for the midfielder's work ethos said the Gaffer:

"James has got a special attitude; he's someone who has got real desire in his play, sets himself high standards and that goal was a big reward for that.

"He made a big influence on the game when he came off the bench and I'm sure he's going to give us a lot from now until the end of the season.

"We need players like James who will show that character and determination, he's a real ambassador for our football club."

Another player making an impression on the game was Jean Beausejour who played the full 90 minutes on his debut for the Club, and impressed the Gaffer:

"I was really pleased with Jean Beausejour's performance, the way he has settled into the group since arriving has been fantastic.

"He shows that he has real world-class ability, but as a team unfortunately we weren't good enough in that first-half to make a difference."