The 50-year-old reflected on the Premier League loss to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium

Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic conceded Kieran Trippier’s second goal for Tottenham Hotspur was crucial on Saturday.

Lucas Moura had put Spurs ahead at half time, but Aleksandar Mitrovic levelled early in the second period at Wembley Stadium.

At this stage, Fulham were beginning to get on top, but a formation change and the introduction of Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembele helped turn the Premier League game in favour of the Lilywhites.

Yet they didn’t make their dominance count until 16 minutes from time when Trippier stepped up and curled a free kick home from range before Harry Kane made it 3-1 in the 77th minute with his first league goal in August.

A philosophical Jokanovic said: “It’s the Premier League, everything is tough and at the end it’s strange because my team made a great effort and we push hard and we compete well.

“To be honest we find problems, but this is normal through the game. Spurs compete well and press us strong and we didn’t find a way, especially in first 45 minutes, to combat this and at the end they score this psychological goal in a complicated moment for us.

“We started the second half well. This is probably our best moment in the game, we take over the possession and we start to move the ball and create chances and score.

“We have the opportunity to score the second too, but at the end Spurs show the quality and after the free kick they score one goal and immediately after this score twice.

“It was never going to be easy for us to come back after this and it was probably the crucial moment in the game where they killed the game after the third goal and we didn’t have the power for a comeback.”

Although disappointed to see Fulham lose a second consecutive match in the top flight, the former Watford boss did point to the quality of opposition the Cottagers faced on Saturday.

He lauded Tottenham as one of the best sides in the Champions League, after they got to the round of 16 last season.

Jokanovic added: “I take lessons every day. It’s a question about lessons, we know where we are and we cannot be surprised.

“On the other side we play one complicated away game against one of the top English and Champions League teams.

“They showed the quality, but on the other side they have played three years together and the synchronisation between them is different.

“Right now we actually played two-and-a-half weeks together and we need to discover the way and we must compare the things and at the end we are one Premier League team in one building process and we are going to need time.”