Tottenham No2 Gus Poyet says management need to take the blame for their defeat to Aston Villa last night.

After leaving established Premier League players Jermaine Jenas and David Bentley on the bench, Poyet admits the gamble backfired.

"It's about decisions," he told Setanta Sports. "We cannot make an excuse.

"If you make the most right decisions, you go to the top. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't.

"We made a decision and it didn't work today.

"I accept the responsibility. I never hide."

Poyet believes the players all did their utmost to get the team back into the game, but feels that they may have been too eager to impress the fans.

"We came here to try to put on a good performance and I think the lads were ready to do it," he said.

"We started quite brightly, but their first shot was a goal, so we felt it a little bit. Afterwards, we tried hard - there was nothing to complain about in the players' attitude.

"They tried all the time to go forwards, maybe a little bit too quick sometimes, but that's football - you want to impress your fans, you want to win games and you find yourself 1-0 down.

"The game became too open. I don't think it was the kind of game we were ready to play."