Alex Tettey admitted he was happy to see the recriminations of Norwich City's embarrassing FA Cup exit to Luton Town prove well worth it against Tottenham.

The Canaries looked more like their old selves as they pushed the London club all the way on Wednesday night – only for a stroke of genius from Gareth Bale to deny City their first Premier League victory in seven matches.

'That was a really important reaction,' said the Norwegian international. 'From losing against Luton, and the supporters almost losing faith in us, I think it was important to show them that we want to win, to show them we were up for wanting to work hard and I think this was very important.

'It has been hard in the dressing room because all we want is to play well and get points, but at the moment it is difficult. Against Tottenham I have seen some improvement that is keeping my confidence up, hoping that we can do better.

'We have been working on things in training and we have been talking and trying to put things right, because at home we cannot play like how we did against Luton. We have to show people that we are a hard-working team and nobody will come to Norwich to grab easy points.

'Of course that defeat to Luton hurt us. We were talking about what we were not doing after the game and we came out of there with some points about what we had to do the next game to be better, and I think we responded really well.'

Wes Hoolahan's opener gave Norwich a lead they held for the majority of the match – but Tettey was willing to accept the 1-1 draw was probably the right one.

'I think we have to be fair,' added Tettey. 'In the first half we had some opportunities to maybe get 2-0, but if you look at the second half and how they played and the chances they created, then I think it was fair to have a draw. But of course when we were so close it always hurts to get to draw.'

And while Bale's winner was a glorious effort, Tettey was criticised by Spurs manager Adre Villas-Boas for trying to cut short the Welsh winger's break.

'It was a world class goal and that is what they have, world class players,' said Tettey. 'Bale, he didn't do a lot in the game and only has one chance and he scores, so we have to put our hands up and say it was a great strike. I did my best to stop him. I tried to tackle him but he stayed on his feet and he was too fast with the ball, so what more can you do?'