Preston North End defender explains bitter-sweet feelings after defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup

Heung-Min Son scored the opening goal with a stunning strike into the bottom corner from 25 yards out on his weaker left side after 50 minutes before adding another on 69 minutes with an equally convincing finish, this time from inside the area.

Arrant Danjuma rounded off the scoring in the final minutes of the game, the Dutchman coming off the bench for his debut and adding a goal.

It was a big test for PNE against one of the top five clubs in the country right now, and whilst Hughes relished the opportunity to play against world class players, there was still a feeling of disappointment for the Welshman after tasting defeat.

He said: “It's a catch-22, you want to play against the best players but equally you walk off the pitch with a 3-0 loss. It's a bitter-sweet moment really. You could say it's a free hit for us tonight but it's back to the drawing board and trying to get some points in the league now.

"I thought we defended well, I don't think they had many chances at all really in the first half. Son hit one from outside the box but Fred dealt with it. That was the difference today, a few individual players who are world class taking half a chance.

"We defended well, probably could have kept the ball better from our point of view but it's one of those games for the club and for the fans. Ultimately we wanted to press on in the rounds but it wasn't to be, it's back to business in the Championship now.

"It would be nice to get teams like Tottenham coming here on a weekly basis! We just need to knuckle down in the league now, hopefully we can make something magic this season.

“We've had a few good cup games at Deepdale, Liverpool and Manchester City, and now Tottenham. They are the games you want to be involved in week in, week out. It's a big second half of the season for us. If we can get a few wins on the bounce you never know what happens”

Hughes had to get used to the quality that Antonio Conte’s side possessed, the Spurs side boasting a plethora of internationals.

And although Son’s opening goal seemed like a moment of inspiration from Tottenham’s talisman, Hughes did not curse the quality that saw him nestle the ball into the bottom corner.

He said: “It's just over the first five or 10 yards, the sharpness is crazy. The pass appreciation, the little knock downs. They're world class. Son is some player, him, some player.

“I thought the first half was perfect, staying in the game and going in level. It was about staying in the game as long as we could really, we knew they were going to create chances but we did minimise that. It's one of those games, you can get punished with half a chance with players like that and that's what happened today.

“You can't say on another day that he doesn't score, because he does score! It's one of them.”