Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood believes his team should have beaten their North London rivals Arsenal despite a narrow 1-0 loss at White Hart Lane.

Although Spurs dominated possession for most of the match, an early Tomas Rosicky strike in the second minute was enough to give Arsenal the win but Sherwood maintains his side "didn't deserve to lose."

The Spurs head coach also claims the result flattered Arsenal and their victory will "paper over the cracks" of their Premier League title bid.

"I thought we were better than them. I thought we played well and created chances today. We played on the front foot and defended together," he said.

"No one can say we deserved to lose that game. No one tries to miss chances, if you're in there to miss them, I can't complain.

"We can't just do that in North London derbies. If the players give me that between now and the end of the season, no problem, we'll be where we need to be.

"The result for Arsenal will paper over a lot of cracks, they were outplayed today and they've got to admit that.

"We've outplayed Arsenal today, and they're title contenders. We played better today, a lot better than we have recently. We deserved to win that game, not lose it."

The defeat leaves Tottenham in fifth place, seven points adrift of Manchester City who have three games in hand in fourth.