Despite the fact that we are now relatively comfortable in midtable and look likely to stay up, the barren 90 minutes we just witnessed at White Hart Lane was a tad demoralising to watch.

Yes, we set up to start the game tight at the back and looked like we went there to not concede early rather than to get at Tottenham from the off, but it was disappointing to venture forwards so rarely.

Again, as with seemingly everything so far this season, it’s a sign of just how far we’ve come since our last trip to the Premier League that we’ve only really seen such a defensive, one-sided display on a couple of occasions so far.

It’s easy to forget just how often we were pinned back in our own half for the duration in 06/07 or certainly in 99/00.

Thinking back to those years, I remember feeling a pained resignation after 10 or 15 minutes of some matches. I knew we’d struggle for the full 90.

Rarely have I felt like that so far this season though. In fact, I somehow didn’t even feel it after the referee blew the half time whistle.

I know that this year’s Watford side is capable of plenty more and the strength of our bench was quite something.

To be clear, I could understand Quique Sanchez Flores’ decision to start with just one striker.

Spurs came into the tie as the form side of the division – along with Leicester of course – and they’d just dusted themselves down after as easy a win as they will get all season at Norwich in the week.

It was imperative we stifled them early on. If we conceded before half time it would have been a tough ask to battle a team so high on confidence.

We opted not to try to hit them early but showed immense faith in our defensive capabilities by sitting back and batting away all that was thrown at us.

At half time, Flores made a rare decision to change things completely. It looked as if perhaps this was the game plan. Had this been the idea all along?

Were we now ready to play our own game after showing we could handle what Spurs had to throw at us?

Alas, no. An injury to Miguel Britos at the start of the second half meant the two early subs became three, and an obviously fatigued Hornets side continued to stay on the back foot despite having two strikers on the pitch.

No shots on target for us, nine for Spurs – of a total of 26 aimed between Heurelho Gomes’ posts.

I’m astounded we only let in the single goal. Gomes’ incredible form means that the scoreline far from tells the whole story, and a combination of bad luck – owing to Britos’ injury – and the wrong tactical decisions meant that we had nothing to throw back at Mauricio Pochettino’s men.

We’re perhaps too used to Flores making excellent yet understated, pragmatic decisions about his team and how they set up.

Early on in the season he recognised the form of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo and tweaked his preferred formation to incorporate both strikers.

When we had been on a turgid run of form for the first time this season, Flores released Jose Manuel Jurado and played him centrally.

This allowed us to play with newfound freedom at home to Newcastle, momentarily arresting our dip in form in the process.

But maybe this match was a bit of a step back. Flores has mentioned tiredness a few times in his post match comments and this must have played a big part looking back on things.

However, two of the three players mentioned as being most fatigued were brought on at half time, limiting our options later on in the game.

There has been reluctance from Flores to make big changes during the course of matches in the past and some have criticised him for it.

This time, those fans got what they wanted and it didn’t seem to help.

There was no added impetus and Spurs went from strength to strength.

The excellent, tireless Kieran Trippier deserved his goal and there’s no doubt Tottenham are a very strong outfit this season.

To have only lost 1-0 in a game so one-sided is one thing but to camp out in your own half for so long can’t do too much for confidence.

Some have pointed out similarities between this game and the 2-0 defeat at the Etihad early on in the season.

Those that do so have usually added something about the relative statures of the two clubs, and how it’s understandable against Man City but unforgiveable against a team like Tottenham.

Spurs are right up there this season though and on Saturday’s showing they completely deserve to be there.

Relentlessly positive fans will say we avoided a potential rout with our tired squad up against a top team and that a 1-0 defeat shouldn’t be sniffed at. 

But there’s always that niggling feeling that maybe we could have approached the game completely differently and done well.

It remains to be seen how we will fare against Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace, who are dropping like a stone right now.

A full week’s rest and an injection of self belief are needed if we’re to get back to the form we saw in the first half of the season.