Tottenham's Harry Winks has admitted that the atmosphere at Wembley was flat for Tuesday night's 1-0 win over Barnsley in the EFL Cup Third Round.

Spurs offered tickets for £10 and concessions for as little as £5 for their third match in six days at Wembley, but there were just 23,926 at the 90,000-seater national stadium for the narrow victory, settled by Dele Alli's 65th-minute goal.

The attendance was lower than for Spurs' pre-season friendly with Juventus, which attracted 26,251, but similar to the crowd at White Hart Lane for last season's League Cup third round win over Gillingham – 26,244.

At least 16 competitive games have drawn a smaller crowd to the national stadium since it opened in 2007, including the National League and League Two Play-Offs.

Winks, who started for the first time in six months, admitted that cavernous Wembley did not feel the same as Spurs' compact former home.

"It’s just the size of the stadium – it’s difficult to really get that same atmosphere that you got at White Hart Lane or if you have a full stadium here," the midfielder said. "But the fans are always excellent and they were brilliant in getting us over the line."

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said he understood the low attendance, which was partly the result of the club's decision not to include the match in this year's season ticket package, unlike last year's League Cup third round.

"I understand [the attendance]," Pochettino said. "I'd like to say thank you to all the fans that were here. Maybe it wasn't possible for others to come. I understand that it's so difficult for the fans sometimes to come to every single game. I know they are behind us and translate their support. There's more nothing to say."

In Pictures | EFL Cup Third Round 58 show all In Pictures | EFL Cup Third Round 1/58 Getty Images 2/58 AFP/Getty Images 3/58 AFP/Getty Images 4/58 AFP/Getty Images 5/58 Getty Images 6/58 AFP/Getty Images 7/58 Getty Images 8/58 AFP/Getty Images 9/58 Man Utd via Getty Images 10/58 Getty Images 11/58 AFP/Getty Images 12/58 AFP/Getty Images 13/58 AFP/Getty Images 14/58 Getty Images 15/58 Getty Images 16/58 Chelsea FC via Getty Images 17/58 Getty Images 18/58 AFP/Getty Images 19/58 AFP/Getty Images 20/58 AFP/Getty Images 21/58 AFP/Getty Images 22/58 AFP/Getty Images 23/58 Getty Images 24/58 Getty Images 25/58 Getty Images 26/58 AFP/Getty Images 27/58 AFP/Getty Images 28/58 Getty Images 29/58 Getty Images 30/58 Arsenal FC via Getty Images 31/58 Man Utd via Getty Images 32/58 Dele Alli celebrates Tottenham's opener against Barnsley Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 33/58 Jairo Riedewald welcomes Pape Souare back to Crystal Palace after 13 months out of football Getty Images 34/58 Tottenham's Harry Winks vies with Jason McCarthy of Barnsley AP 35/58 Diafra Sakho celebrates scoring his side's second goal with Marko Arnautovic Getty Images 36/58 Sakho strikes for West Ham Getty Images 37/58 Fernando Llorente heads over for Spurs Getty Images 38/58 Mauricio Pochettino in discussion with his staff Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 39/58 Moussa Sissoko in action Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 40/58 Lee Chung-yong vies with Huddersfield Town's German striker Elias Kachunga AFP/Getty Images 41/58 Bakary Sako celebrates scoring Palace's first goal of the Roy Hodgson era Action Images via Reuters 42/58 Angelo Ogbonna celebrates scoring West Ham's opener Action Images via Reuters 43/58 Getty Images 44/58 Spurs warm-up at a mostly empty Wembley Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 45/58 David Wagner, manager of Huddersfield Town, arrives at Selhurst Park Getty Images 46/58 Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 47/58 West Ham United via Getty Images 48/58 General view of the home dressing room at the London Stadium West Ham United via Getty Images 49/58 Fans show their support at Wembley Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 50/58 Harry Kane arrives Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 51/58 Fernando Llorente arrives at Wembley Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 52/58 Chelsea train ahead of Nottingham Forest Chelsea FC via Getty Images 53/58 Chelsea train ahead of Nottingham Forest Chelsea FC via Getty Images 54/58 Chelsea train ahead of Nottingham Forest Chelsea FC via Getty Images 55/58 Arsenal train ahead of Doncaster Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 56/58 Arsenal train ahead of Doncaster Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 57/58 Arsenal train ahead of Doncaster Arsenal FC via Getty Images 58/58 Arsenal train ahead of Doncaster Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 1/58 Getty Images 2/58 AFP/Getty Images 3/58 AFP/Getty Images 4/58 AFP/Getty Images 5/58 Getty Images 6/58 AFP/Getty Images 7/58 Getty 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Llorente heads over for Spurs Getty Images 38/58 Mauricio Pochettino in discussion with his staff Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 39/58 Moussa Sissoko in action Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 40/58 Lee Chung-yong vies with Huddersfield Town's German striker Elias Kachunga AFP/Getty Images 41/58 Bakary Sako celebrates scoring Palace's first goal of the Roy Hodgson era Action Images via Reuters 42/58 Angelo Ogbonna celebrates scoring West Ham's opener Action Images via Reuters 43/58 Getty Images 44/58 Spurs warm-up at a mostly empty Wembley Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 45/58 David Wagner, manager of Huddersfield Town, arrives at Selhurst Park Getty Images 46/58 Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 47/58 West Ham United via Getty Images 48/58 General view of the home dressing room at the London Stadium West Ham United via Getty Images 49/58 Fans show their support at Wembley Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 50/58 Harry Kane arrives Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 51/58 Fernando Llorente arrives at Wembley Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images 52/58 Chelsea train ahead of Nottingham Forest Chelsea FC via Getty Images 53/58 Chelsea train ahead of Nottingham Forest Chelsea FC via Getty Images 54/58 Chelsea train ahead of Nottingham Forest Chelsea FC via Getty Images 55/58 Arsenal train ahead of Doncaster Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 56/58 Arsenal train ahead of Doncaster Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 57/58 Arsenal train ahead of Doncaster Arsenal FC via Getty Images 58/58 Arsenal train ahead of Doncaster Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

The attendance was the lowest for a men's match at the new Wembley, excluding the FA Trophy and FA Vase finals, but Spurs have an exclusive contract with the FA to play all of this season's home matches at the national stadium, regardless of the draws in the domestic cups.

Winks, who completed 90 minutes, says he is finally pain-free after skipping international duty earlier this month to focus on recovering from a long-term ankle problem.

"I feel like I’m 100% now," he said. "It was a perfect opportunity to put everything behind me, move on and start the season from now.

"I’ve been playing with a little bit of a niggle here and there. In the last week-and-a-half or two weeks, it really started to get back to normal and I’m delighted with that. I got pulled out of the England U21 squad to try and get it right. I got some advice from some specialists and since then it’s really started to progress and I’m really happy with that.

"It’s difficult when you’re playing at 70% in training and you know you’re really giving it everything you can but there's a little bit of pain, which is frustrating. But it’s football. Luckily enough I can say – touch wood – that everything’s ok now and it’s really feeling good and I’m feeling confident and strong."