There was little to choose between the sides for much of the opening half but, less than five minutes after the break, the Magpies’ Jonjo Shelvey saw red for a stamp on Dele Alli.

It proved the catalyst for a Spurs victory, with Alli himself opening the scoring on the hour-mark, before Ben Davies added a second ten minutes later.

But Atsu – who made his switch to St. James’ Park a permanent one earlier this summer – felt there was enough exhibited in their overall display for Newcastle to take confidence into their clash at Huddersfield Town next Sunday.

“We went into the game with a very strong mentality – trying to win. We did really well in the first half and made things difficult for them. We created a couple of chances but after the red card, when we had ten men, it became really hard,” he told nufc.co.uk.

“We had to stick together. Individually, we knew they were better than us, so we needed to play as a team. We did that.

“We need to believe in ourselves, and continue to stick with our game-plans. We just need to keep our focus, keep working hard and try to win our next game.”

Newcastle’s cause was not helped by the loss of two players to injury in the first half. Paul Dummett limped off barely five minutes in, while Florian Lejeune’s competitive debut lasted just over half an hour.

Atsu, however, paid tribute to those who came on in their place, and vowed to pay back the Gallowgate faithful when the Magpies return to St. James’ Park a week on Saturday.

“The team is ready. Although we lost two players, you did not see any difference – you could see all the players are well-prepared for anything that happens,” he said. “We will need to win games before we become more confident, but I think the team is really solid and playing really well.

“We thank the fans for their support. They have been amazing. We will come back stronger to give them what they deserve.”