London, Jul 4 (IANS): Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said that the team's lack of fight in their 3-1 defeat to Sheffield United was concerning. Spurs' hopes of making it to the Champions League was given a significant blow when they were completely outplayed by Sheffield earlier in the week.

"There was a lot in the game, there was a possibility of shortening distances to Champions League positions, there was the possibility of being more stable for the Europa League positions fight," Mourinho told reporters on Saturday.

"I believed in the evolution of the team and I thought that by a desire point of view, they put more in than us. That's something that disturbs me.

"It's something that I feel, I don't know, that's my way of being -- it's something that destroys me a little bit on the inside because I think the last thing in football is when you have the feeling you could, you should do more."

Tottenham were denied a goal a minute after they conceded the first in the first half by VAR. They were then thoroughly outplayed by Sheffield for the rest of the match with goals from Lys Mousset and Oli McBurnie in the second half giving them a two-goal advantage. The result leaves them on 45 points in ninth place, nine points adrift of fourth placed Chelsea with five games left to play.

"I always say it's not a problem for me to lose because my opponent is better," said Mourinho.

"It's not a problem for me to lose because my goalkeeper made a big mistake, it's not a problem for me to lose because my striker missed two chances with an open goal or a guy missed a penalty in the last minute.

"It's not a problem for me to cope with mistakes and defeats. It's a problem when my feeling was we could do much more."