Ange Postecoglou described himself as “really, really angry”, the “angriest I think I have ever been in my career” that his players were “denied the right rewards for a fantastic performance” after Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle.

Although he repeatedly refused to specify he was talking about the refereeing and the decision not to rule out Newcastle’s equaliser for handball, there was little doubt what he was referring to. “I think it’s clear,” he said.

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“Whether people agree with me or not whether it wasn’t handball or it was accidental, I’m just not interested in any of that discussion. What I’m saying is, on any given day with a fair and even playing field and logical thought processes, we would have won that game.”

His Newcastle counterpart, Eddie Howe, was studiously diplomatic. “It definitely hit Joelinton’s arm,” he said, “but I’m not in control of the referee’s decision. I believe the arm is down in a natural position and the referees and VAR have followed the protocols.”

Postecoglou is clearly frustrated at how many things – not just refereeing – are going against his side. After injuries to his goalkeeper, left-back and three centre-backs, Spurs were struck by a bug.

“Radu [Dragusin] and Archie [Gray] were bed-ridden all week,” he said. “Fraser [Forster], he’s still bed-ridden and struggling with it. There’s a couple of others struggling. At half-time, Radu didn’t have any more to give. On Thursday, we had 11 fit players for training.

“But I don’t care about that, what I care about is the players put in an unbelievable performance, fantastic football, created chances, denied them and having to defend strongly, which we did. It’s unfair on them more than anything else that they didn’t get the rewards.”

The win, coming after Monday’s 2-0 win at Manchester United, helped consolidate Newcastle in fifth in the table. “It’s been a massive two games for us,” Howe said, “because our away form has been a bit patchy and only winning can give you confidence you can win at any ground. It’s never a perfect game, never going to have everything your own way but we found a way to come back.

“I made a conscious decision to be consistent with my team selection to try to build consistency. I’ve been very reluctant to change things. We defended very well in the main. We did manage the game in the end very well.”