Tottenham captain Son Heung-min has admitted his side's 6-3 loss to Liverpool was “really painful” to accept.

The Reds dominated the Lilywhites in north London on Sunday, with Spurs' makeshift backline struggling to cope with the away side's firepower. Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz struck twice while Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai netted one each to ensure Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the league going into Christmas.

James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke scored consolation goals for the home side but Tottenham never really looked like getting back into the game. Speaking after the match, Son issued a message to his teammates going into the busy festive schedule.

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“Very disappointed obviously with the result and to concede six goals at home is not ideal. It’s really, really painful,” Son told Sky Sports.

“As a footballer you always want to play, so at the moment we’ve got to work hard and recover as well as possible. I don’t want to make any excuses. We tried to be as sharp as possible.

“We have to stick together in difficult times. Today was very, very painful for the players, the fans and the club, but we have to bounce back stronger.”

Spurs – who had eight players missing – could never reach the energy levels of a midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final triumph over Manchester United, but Ange Postecoglou defended his depleted team, who are 11th. “Credit to Liverpool, they are a very good side and are in a great moment. It was just a bridge too far for us,” Postecoglou acknowledged.

“I have massive admiration for the efforts these players are putting in for this club at the moment. We know what a difficult situation it is and that’s not going to change in the short term. We’ve just got to push on.”

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