The relegation strugglers conceded in bizarre circumstances early on, when goalkeeper Joel Robles' kick deflected in off the onrushing Gareth Bale.

But the hosts recovered through strikes from Emmerson Boyce and Callum McManaman before a late Boyce own goal left them with just one point to show for their afternoon's work.

And the Spaniard took issue with the manner in which Wigan conceded the final goal of the game.

Martinez said: "Unfortunately we got done by a late free-kick and, if you see the replay, it puts extra salt in the wounds. It should never be a free-kick as Kyle Walker is pulling Jean Beausejour. He is too honest to stay on his feet and we get punished by that.

"I think we need to accept that, sometimes when you are down there, the results or the lucky breaks don’t go your way but I couldn’t be prouder in the performance. The truth is that I couldn’t see Spurs scoring from open play.

"I thought the players were tactically superb throughout the game; they approached the game in a great manner and stopped one of the best players in the world in Gareth Bale. The performance was as good as it gets.

"I think today you saw an incredible lesson of tactical awareness from James McCarthy, James McArthur and Jordi Gomez. I asked them something very, very difficult to do and they mastered it. British players can be as talented as any other countries."

Wigan now lie third from bottom two points behind Aston Villa, but Martinez remains confident of staying up.

Martinez added: "We are experienced enough to know we have 12 points to fight for. We never do it easy, but we know that if we perform in the manner that we did today we are going to be competitive in every game you go into.
"We are an honest team and I do believe, over the course of a season, if you are honest the football Gods will look out for you and I hope that is the case."