Dele Alli: Tottenham cannot let defeats get to them

Dele Alli knows Tottenham cannot afford to let frustrating back-to-back defeats throw them off-kilter.

Mauricio Pochettino's swashbuckling team swatted aside Liverpool at Wembley last weekend, only to be brought down to earth with a bump.

Spurs inexplicably gave up a two-goal lead to lose their midweek Carabao Cup clash 3-2 against West Ham, before a late Anthony Martial goal gave Manchester United a 1-0 win on Saturday.

Alli knows they have to pick themselves up quickly with a Champions League clash at home to Real Madrid followed by a Premier League encounter with Crystal Palace before the international break.

"We don't just want to compete, we want to win and as a team," the England international said.

"We're frustrated but now we have two big games coming up, Real Madrid and Palace so it's important we learn from this, work on what's gone wrong and keep building as a team because we're still in a fantastic position and we've been in good form, so we can't let this knock us back."

Things could have been different had Alli turned in Christian Eriksen's fine ball just minutes before Martial's winner on Saturday.

"It's one of those... If I had that opportunity 10 times I'd put it away the majority of the time," Alli told Spurs' official website.

"In my head, I was thinking all I needed to do was make contact and it was in. It hit the top of my foot and went wide.

"I'm kicking myself. I should have scored and I have to make sure the next time I get a chance like that I stick it away.

"It's disappointing when you come to a place like this, you play well and you are hoping for a win or at least a draw.

"We felt we should have won really and to go to United and think you should have won shows where we are as a team."

Manchester United will look to continue that winning feeling against Benfica in the Champions League after a performance that delighted Jose Mourinho.

"If the result is 0-0 or 1-1, my feelings with the players would be the same," the United boss said.

"They gave everything, every ball was like the most important ball of their career. The focus and concentration was there against a quality team.

"We played well. To play well against a very good team feels even better."