Jose Mourinho praises Erik Lamela’s contribution to Spurs win over Brighton – despite fact he did not play

Mourinho praised Lamela for telling him he was available for selection this week

Jose Mourinho raised eyebrows in his post-match interview today by praising Erik Lamela’s contribution to Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 comeback victory over Brighton & Hove Albion — despite the fact the Argentine did not play.

Dele Alli continued to be the leading light of Mourinho’s reign at Tottenham as he scored the winner in the comeback victory.

Alli produced a brilliant first-time finish to give Spurs another Boxing Day win after Harry Kane had earlier cancelled out Adam Webster’s opener, while Lucas Moura produced an influential second-half performance.

But after the match Mourinho sought to praise Lamela, who was an unused substitute for Tottenham having this week finally recovered from a hip injury that has ruled him out for the past two months.

When asked for his reaction to Lucas’ performance, Mourinho said: “I want to talk about somebody like Lamela. He did not play and he trained only twice this week — but he still told me that he was available. He told me he could play 10-15 minutes. That is our spirit.

“Of course Lucas was important, but without this family spirit that second-half would be impossible.”

Mourinho also described Kane as “part of Tottenham’s furniture” before singling Alli out for further praise.

“Another goal. Another incredible performance,” Mourinho added.

“His work rate was incredible. These little big details are often the most important. It was an amazing goal, but his attitude and fighting spirit for the team was outstanding.”

Brighton manager Graham Potter meanwhile urged his team to “stick together” after another defeat.

Brighton were superb in the first-half and had their chances to level the score, but were instead consigned to their second consecutive defeat after losing at home to Sheffield United last week.

“I thought it was quite an even game in terms of shots and chances,” Potter said. “You would expect Tottenham to have a bit of pressure. We are disappointed to come away with nothing. Those fine little margins, little details we need to do better.

“I thought we had some good moments in the half and we contributed to a good first-half performance. The little details you need to go your way they didn’t. We need to dust ourselves down and go again. We need to stick together, stick to what we are doing and move forward.”