Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson believes he should have been "talking about a win" after his side fell to a 2-1 home defeat to Tottenham.
Christian Eriksen's 70th-minute free-kick, against the run of play at the King Power Stadium, extended City's winless streak to 13 Premier League games.
It had taken former City loanee Harry Kane less that a minute to come back to haunt his old club before Leonardo Ulloa leveled the scoring just after the restart.
City, though, created numerous chances throughout, with Ulloa and Riyad Mahrez both hitting the woodwork either side of half-time.
Hugo Lloris was also on hand twice to deny Jeff Schlupp, as well as saving Wes Morgan's header late on, after the City skipper had previously failed to find the net from five yards out.
"Once again, I have been very proud of how the players have gone about the game," said Pearson.
"We have had our chances and it remains very frustrating for us because I think in the second half, in particular, we were by far the better side.
"I think I should be sitting here talking about a win, but I'm not, I'm talking about a defeat.
"That is even more galling for us. But that is how it is and you can't spend too much time moaning about how things go, you've got to do something about it.
"I am loath to play the bad luck card. I don't like to talk too much about luck. I think people who play the luck card are probably kidding themselves.
"We are close to making things happen. What we have got to do is continue to push our performance levels to make things happen."
The result leaves City five points adrift at the bottom of the table, and six points shy of safety going into Sunday's clash at relegation rivals Hull.
"There is still a long way to go and one of the danger is people in our position, internally, start listening too much to how everyone else sees the situation," said Pearson.
"I am not sticking my head in the sand, or trying to paint the picture that it is a lot more positive than it is. We are in trouble at the moment.
"The players have had a number of performances of late where we have played pretty well and not had the rewards for it, so it is going to be a test of their resolve as much as anything, in terms of their own belief."
"But the performances would suggest that we have the capability of turning it around."
