Martinez left frustrated by referee decisions, but encouraged by performance

Roberto Martinez highlighted Jermain Defoe's goal as the turning point in the 3-0 defeat by Tottenham at the DW Stadium.

Defoe struck early on in the game with replays showing him to be clearly offside, and the gaffer, feeling let down by the lack of a refereeing decision, felt his side were always going to find things difficult from there on:

"Their first goal was very disappointing because it was a clear, clear offside decision," said Martinez

"You look at other games where you have close calls that could go either way, but this was not close.

"The first goal here was always going to be everything.

"The pitch was tough, for both teams, and we maybe missed bit of a spark having played on Wednesday.

"But to start a game 1-0 down makes it very difficult for you to be able to impose yourself on the game.

"For whatever reason, the referee didn't give us the decision, and I feel we were on the wrong end of many decisions on the day.

"There were a few key decisions that went against us. I felt they (Tottenham) were lucky to keep 11 players on the pitch and I don't feel we were treated the same way as they were.

"You want consistency from the official and hope both teams are treated in the same manner, and I don't think that happened today.

"We just hope that will be evened up over the course of the season,

"When you play the top sides, it seems it is a little bit easier for them to get the decisions.

"But today was particularly disappointing, because the goal was a massive moment in the game and it wasn't even a close call.

"It's quite clear we need to carry on doing what we're doing, playing in the same manner and make sure we bounce back.

"You can't do much about refereeing decisions and sometimes they make you feel very frustrated. But we will use it to bounce back in the right manner against Birmingham."

Aside from the game's main talking-point the gaffer was pleased with the reaction from his side to try and work their way back into the game, explaining that their spirit and attitude are to be vital going into the final third of the campaign:

He said: "We showed great character in the second half and the right reaction to try to get back in the game.

"But when you are playing against a very professional team with a lot of experience and composure, you can't give them a goal start.

"You need to score the first goal and take the initiative against them, and the game was completely changed today.

"Today was the first game of the final third of the campaign, and it's important we try to influence as much as we can every game we have left.

"We need to show the right reaction on Saturday and all our concentration must now be focused on that.

"We need to look at the good things we did today - and there were some, because the score-line did not reflect the game - and make sure we are ready for Birmingham."