SUNDERLAND head coach Gus Poyet believes his side deserved to take something from White Hart Lane after Christian Eriksen scored a late winner for Tottenham Hotspur.

The Black Cats had got back into the game through Seb Larsson’s 31st minute free-kick after going behind to Jan Vertonghen’’s deflected opener early on.

Poyet’s men had chances to win the game prior to Eriksen’s 88th minute strike, but once again their failings in front of goal were exposed with Steven Fletcher and Danny Graham both missing clear-cut chances.

The head coach switched from 4-1-4-1 to play a 3-5-2 system in North London and despite suffering a third defeat in four league game admitted he was pleased with the way his side performed.

“When the winning goal is so late it hurts, but it’s part of football and you need to be good all the time, not just 88 or 89 minutes,” Poyet said.

“That’s the disappointing side. For a new formation, for a new way of playing, away at White Hart Lane, we were doing quite alright so it’s a shame we didn’t get anything from the game.”

Poyet handed Jermain Defoe his debut just 24 hours after the striker completed his move from Toronto FC.

The 32-year-old couldn’t add to his record of scoring on his debut for every club he was played for, but Poyet was impressed with what he saw and believes his side should have had a penalty when Vertonghen clashed with Defoe.

He said: “He started bright and looked sharp. If he gets the penalty he would score and we’d be talking about great debuts, but the referee didn’t see what everyone else did so clearly.

“He was looking for his chance. He played a little bit longer than expected but he’s going to get better and better and I’m sure when he gets that first opportunity he is going to put the ball in the back of the net.

“I think it was a good start and it was a great place for him to start playing for us.”