Jol finds comfort in Spurs exit

Martin Jol is delighted with the progress at Tottenham despite Thursday's UEFA Cup exit to Sevilla ending his hopes of bringing silverware to White Hart Lane this season.

Jol's men were left chasing the tie after conceding two goals in the first eight minutes - an own goal from Steed Malbranque and a smart finish from former Spurs striker Frederic Kanoute - before second-half strikes from Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon pulled two back, only for Spurs to exit their third competition this season at the latter stages.

"It's April and we're out of another cup, we played in all the cups and I feel it was an exciting year for us," said Jol following the 4-3 aggregate defeat. "If we can do the same next year we will have had a good year. We have to learn, we have a new team with exciting players but we have to defend as well."

Sevilla were already leading 2-1 from the first leg when Malbranque sliced into his own net after three minutes, with Jol questioning the Frenchman's positioning while defending a corner.

"If you go on the outside of the post you have a problem," said the Dutchman. "If he was on the inside he could have cleared it."

Kanoute extended their advantage when he exchanged passes with Aleksandr Kerzhakov before shimmying past goalkeeper Paul Robinson and finishing.

Jol was pleased with his side's second-half response, with Defoe scoring with his first touch after coming off the bench and Lennon levelling the score on the night with 23 minutes remaining.

"On the positive side we did better than you can expect of a side that is out of the UEFA Cup because if you have to score four goals it's virtually impossible," added Jol.

"The only thing now is to pick ourselves for the league because we are in a fine position."