Following Tottenham Hotspur's surprise defeat to Royal Antwerp in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night, Jose Mourinho made a shock admission about the game.
The likes of Dele Alli and Gareth Bale returned to the starting line-up for the Lilywhites, but were unable inspire the team to victory as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Antwerp.
Trailing at the break, Mourinho made four changes at half-time in an attempt to get back into the game, and made his fifth and final substitution before the hour mark.
Speaking about the defeat in Belgium after the match, the Portuguese tactician revealed he would have preferred to change his whole team at the break, and insisted his players got what they deserved.
"I would have liked to make 11 (substitutions). I didn't make five because I was afraid of a long 45 minutes without any changes to make," Mourinho said, according to Goal.
"There's only one person to blame, and it is me. I had chosen the players to start. At half-time, I tried to improve the situation. But it was not enough. The dynamic of the first half was there, the mentality was there and it's difficult to change.
"In the first half, the game was very easy to play, lots of space. In the second half, we improved but then they played in a completely different way. It was very difficult. In the end, Antwerp got what they deserved, and we also got what we deserved.
"It's a fair result. I'm always calm with it. The best team won, and the worst team lost."
Spurs, who are fifth on the Premier League table, play host to Brighton Hove Albion at home this weekend.
