Jose bemoans his 'nice' guys

LONDON－Jose Mourinho claimed Tottenham paid the price for being "too nice" as Wolves came from behind to clinch a crucial 3-2 win in the race to qualify for the Champions League on Sunday.

Jose Mourinho's side led twice in north London thanks to goals from Steven Bergwijn and Serge Aurier.

But Matt Doherty got Wolves' first before second-half goals from Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez overturned a 2-1 deficit.

It was a bitter blow for injury-hit Spurs, who suffered three consecutive defeats in all competitions for the first time this season.

Wolves moved two points above Tottenham into sixth place in the Premier League and Mourinho fears his team's hopes of Champions League qualification will be ruined unless it develops a more ruthless streak.

"It was a totally unfair result. But it is difficult to stop Wolves if you don't have the mentality that they showed," Mourinho said.

"In the first and last minutes they had fouls to stop the counter-attack. Wolves had the correct mentality.

"We were punished for quite a long time because we don't have that aggression. We are too nice. That is the only thing that made the difference in the game.

"I cannot complain about their spirit, I can complain about some psychological characteristics that are very difficult to change."

Injuries to Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Moussa Sissoko and now goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who missed the Wolves game with a groin injury, have badly hampered Tottenham in recent weeks.

But, asked if the injuries had taken a toll, Mourinho replied: "It would be too easy for me to say that. I try to forget the players that we are missing.

"It is frustration, not just for me but for the players. We recovered 11 points distance to fourth, then when we got to one point everything changed for us, but we have to keep fighting like we did today."

On France keeper Lloris, Mourinho added: "It's hard to say when he is going to be back. Is it a big problem? I don't think it is but he was not ready to play today. We have to wait."

As it stands, finishing fifth could lead to a Champions League place, owing to second-place Manchester City's European ban, against which Pep Guardiola's team is appealing.

Sitting level on points with fifth-place Manchester United and just three behind fourth-place Chelsea, Wolves are firmly in the hunt for an unexpected berth in Europe's elite club competition.

Wolves have coped with a grueling schedule that began back in July with their Europa League qualifiers and were good value for their vital win over Tottenham.

'Amazing energy'

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo said his players' spirit was the key to their fightback.

"We had good movements that achieved beautiful goals. We finished strongly. It was a good performance," Nuno said.

"We have been able to come back many times since last season. We are relentless, we believe the game is still to be played.

"There is a good team spirit, the boys help each other in every aspect. That is something we must keep building.

"It's amazing the energy levels we put in. We embraced the challenge in July to compete in every game. It doesn't matter if it is 46, 47 or 48 games."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE