Igor Tudor hopes Tottenham's Champions League performance against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday can save their struggling season.
Spurs beat Atletico 3-2 in the second leg, though a 5-2 thrashing in the opening meeting saw them eliminated in the round of 16 by an aggregate 7-5 scoreline.
Tudor will hope to use the home showing as motivation for when Spurs meet Nottingham Forest for a huge relegation clash in Sunday's Premier League match.
"It's nice, the sensation, the feelings are mixed," he said. "We're out but one very good team on the pitch, one very good performance from the players and energy.
"It was really nice that the fans recognised that the team did everything they could do. They were with us from the start, and I thank them for that."
Tottenham are just a point clear of the relegation zone, with Forest only outside of the bottom three on goal difference.
But Tudor may be looking at the positives from the second-leg win against Atletico, despite Spurs conceding seven goals on aggregate in a European tie for the very first time.
Guglielmo Vicario echoed a similar positive on TNT Sports, saying: "It was a game of moments and we were close to going over the edge.
"We had a lot of situations in the first half and we could've gone to the break at 2-0. There are a lot of positives to take from tonight and we showed what we need to show every game.
"It's a good build-up into the next games and gives us a lot of confidence. We are very proud of what we did tonight but of course we are disappointed we didn't go through, but the important thing is we have got energy and freshness.
"We fought hard, a lot of duels won, ground duels, aerial duels, second balls. The team is in a better physical place and we kept running until the last second and we had the energy of the fans - we had unbelievable support.
"The next games are crucial and we have to give everything we have but this is a positive start. It's good to see the young players when they have to stand up they do it in this was so I'm very proud of them and we will need them in the last games of the season.
"We have eight games until the end of the season and everyone will be crucial. We need everyone behind us and this kind of support in good times and bad times."