Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has insisted that his side must improve after their late defeat to Everton.

Clint Dempsey had seemingly struck the winner for Spurs in the 76th minute, but Steven Pienaar and Nikica Jelavic both scored in injury time to earn a 2-1 win for the Toffees and complete a remarkable turnaround.

"We were looking to see off the game but when Everton got more aggressive with their long balls it was difficult to clear them and we ended up suffering," said Villas-Boas.

"It's not really easy to explain the defeat because both of [the goals] came through different situations. It's something we're aware of. It's something that we have to improve by seeing off the game and seeing off good results.

"I think it's just the nature of the game because it was our best period for quite some time in the second half. If you remember we had a chance to make it 2-0 with Gylfi Sigurdsson who did very, very well but we couldn't stop every long ball coming in and the ones that got through went in the goal."

Spurs host Swansea City in their next Premier League match on Sunday.