Érik Lamela has called for Tottenham to show greater ruthlessness in front of goal and he maintains that the burden ought not to fall solely on Harry Kane.

Lamela had three presentable chances when Spurs were 1-0 up against Internazionale in the Champions League on Tuesday night only to fail to take them. Kane had earlier missed another opportunity when well placed at 0-0 and the profligacy would return to haunt them as Inter scored two late goals to snatch a 2-1 win.

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Kane again looked short of maximum sharpness and, as is the case with a player of his status, he once again found himself under the microscope. Would he benefit from a rest? But Lamela made the point that he and the team’s other attackers had to step up.

“Harry is not a machine,” Lamela said. “He scores a lot. Against Inter he didn’t and for a few games now he didn’t. But he will score again and it’s not like Harry needs to score in every single game. Against Inter, Christian [Eriksen] scored; I scored in the previous game against Liverpool; [Heung‑min] Son will score; Lucas [Moura] will score. All the pressure is not on Harry. All the attacking players need to score.

“I don’t know honestly if we deserved to lose against Inter. In the second half we scored and then we managed the game. They were tired and we should have scored more goals. I had a lot of chances; my teammates, too. Their keeper did well. They had two chances and scored two goals. Football is like this sometimes. We have to improve and next time try to score and finish the game. It’s not about quality. It’s about being decisive.”

After the Premier League defeats against Watford and Liverpool, Mauricio Pochettino claimed to have seen signs of a revival at Inter – specifically, in the second-half performance, when his team took control. Yet they were undone by a stoppage-time concession from a corner, following Mauro Icardi’s stunning equaliser on 86 minutes, and it was the fourth time in three matches that they had conceded from a set-piece.

“We obviously recognise that’s where the majority of goals are coming from and that’s frustrating,” the left-back Ben Davies said. “We have to go back to basics and work on that.”

Lamela said: “We’re not losing our confidence. We believe in each other. That’s why we always fight until the end of the season. Of course, people are thinking like this now but inside the dressing room I can tell you it’s not like that. It’s time to win again. We have confidence in ourselves.”