Ange Postecoglou was left raging after seeing his Tottenham side throw away a 2-0 half-time lead to lose 3-2 at Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday.

Spurs looked to be heading to a sixth successive victory in all competitions as they deservedly led 2-0 after 37 minutes but collapsed in the second half to leave Postecoglou seething.

Brennan Johnson opened the scoring with his sixth goal in six games before James Maddison curled home in an opening half dominated by the visitors.

But Brighton hit back after the break with goals from Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck to take all three points on the south coast and leave Tottenham boss Postecoglou stunned.

And speaking after the game, the crestfallen Australian told Sky Sports: "Disappointing. Frustrated and absolutely gutted with that. Worst defeat since I've been here. Unacceptable second half. Nowhere near where we should be. We got carried away with how were were going.

"We kind of accepted our fate and it is hard to understand as we've not done that while I've been here. We paid the price. The problem is we are travelling along too smoothly, football and life will trip you up if you get too far ahead of yourself."

On message to the players: "There is no message. It is a terrible loss for us - as bad as it gets. Only one way to fix it and that's my responsibility.

"We lost all our duels and if you're not competitive it is not going to work - we were not competitive. They all go international duty the majority of them. They will process it individually and I will process it when everyone gets back."

Maddison floored by Tottenham collapse The result was the 10th time that Tottenham have lost a Premier League game in which they led by two or more goals, meaning they are the first club to hit double figures. Reaching that mark is also at least three more than any other side in the competition's history.

And speaking after the game, James Maddison admitted: "We couldn't deal with the momentum shift. We lost control of the game when the first goal went in. We dealt with momentum poorly and couldn't get any control of the game - it felt like attack after attack.

"They are a good side and have good players. Adversity in the Premier League - you have got to stay strong and weather the storm - we definitely didn't do that.

"We have been on a good run, but it feels like a couple of steps back today.

"We were saying all the right things to not get complacent, but words mean nothing if you don't go out and show it."

Centre-back Luka Vuskovic is the player in question, with the 17-year-old currently on loan at Westerlo from Hajduk Split ahead of an agreed move to north London for a fee between EUR11-15million next summer.

Sunday's edition of Croatian newspaper Vecernji List have certainly been impressed with his performances in Belgium so far this term.

Meanwhile, Tottenham and Manchester City are both interested in new Italy star Samuele Ricci, according to reports.

According to Football Insider, Tottenham look set to begin 'working' on Ricci's signing, having been recommended to him by Fabio Paratici.

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