Tottenham have to do better in one area as 'Strange' verdict emerges after Brighton defeat

We’re delighted to welcome former Scotland right-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…

Alan Hutton has told Tottenham they simply have to do better defensively and shared what he found a "bit strange" in the defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday (28 December).

Spurs saw a three-game winning run in the Premier League ended abruptly at the Amex Stadium, falling to a 4-2 defeat having found themselves four goals down.

Not for the first time this season, Spurs were playing with a makeshift centre-back pairing of Emerson Royal and Ben Davies after Cristian Romero joined Micky van de Ven on the sidelines with a hamstring issue.

In another lively game, Hutton felt Spurs actually played quite well but that their shortcomings in defence were exposed by a game Brighton.

Speaking to Tottenham News, he said: "It was some game to be fair, the first five, six minutes went by and I was thinking 'this is going to be some game but I fancy Tottenham'.

"But actually Brighton had the better opportunities within that period of time, which was a bit strange, it was a very open game, and that's something I think that's never going to change with Tottenham.

"They are going to be open, expansive, and when you play a team like Brighton who play the exact same I thought they'd taken that opportunity better.

"Tottenham had a lot of chances it wasn't Richarlison's night, he had two disallowed for offside, and he had other opportunities that he really should have scored. and you think the two penalties, I know they made a late run at it and scored two but the difference with the daft penalty decisions, or giving them away, that could have been two each, got away with a draw, and got away with one a little bit.

"It was a really good game of football, very open, but Tottenham at times defensively need to do better."

In other Tottenham news, an ex-Spurs scout shared five things he learned against Brighton.