Martin Jol was left frustrated by second half defensive lapses as Fulham slipped to a 3-0 defeat by Tottenham at Craven Cottage this afternoon.

The Fulham manager felt that the Whites’ second London derby in the space of three days was an even contest until Mark Schwarzer failed to keep out a long-range strike from Sandro, although he refused to absolve Fulham’s defenders of blame for the crucial first goal. Spurs striker Jermain Defoe took advantage of slack marking and a high defensive line to swiftly bag a brace that put a more convincing gloss on the scoreline for the visitors.

The first goal was a big blow for the team. It was unstoppable and it changed a lot. The second goal was cheap and so was the third goal. We started to make mistakes, like we did against Southampton and Reading as well, so we need to improve that or it will be very difficult for us to get a very good position in the league.

In the first half I thought we had better opportunities than them. It was a tough game but if you look at the likes of Bale, Lennon, Dempsey, Defoe, I thought we kept them very quiet so it was very disappointing to concede three goals out of nothing. Of course they are a very good footballing team but even Dembele – who is a very good player – was quiet too. They did well but I think we had more possibilities; we had five or six crosses where we could have scored.

Jol’s side are now on a seven match winless streak, but the manager remains calm as he looks ahead to the festive run of fixtures.

We’re still only three points away from 20 and there are still three games to go before we’ve even reached the halfway point of the league programme. Our target is always – like 10 or 12 other teams – to get to 40 points so I’m not worried. Hangeland is coming back, Bryan Ruiz is coming back, so hopefully if everyone is on the board we can try to get back on the winning track.