Ba praises Lloris for denying Beşiktaş

• Demba Ba equalises for Beşiktaş with late penalty but lauds Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris
• Forward says he is not back to full fitness but is happy with his display
• Lloris frustrated at late equaliser in 1-1 draw though admits lead perhaps undeserved
• Mousa Dembélé insists Spurs are not at their best but will improve
• Next games: Tottenham v Asteras, Partizan v Beşiktaş (23 October)

Demba Ba, Beşiktaş forward 
I think our performance tonight was better than the ones against Arsenal [in the UEFA Champions League play-offs] but we could not get the win. There was only one reason we did not win the game and that was Hugo Lloris, though I was still confident for the penalty – otherwise I would not have stepped up. We now have two tough games against Partizan, home and away, but if we can win these two then we will be in a good place with two games to go, so I'm happy with that.

I had a very good start to my career here but then I got injured. I only came back a couple of weeks ago so I'm not 100% fit yet so I'm very happy with how it went tonight. This competition is very, very important to us and it means we have to play every three or four days, but I prefer that to playing one game per week. The return game against Spurs will be a good one – they will come to us and they will see the atmosphere.

I enjoyed playing in England because it is the best league in the world but now I'm really happy at Beşiktaş. I'm still learning and I'm playing for a team who can compete for a place in the Champions League.

Hugo Lloris, Tottenham goalkeeper 
Today was a really tough game against a big team. They showed that on the pitch but it's one more point and hopefully we'll improve in the next games. They put in a good performance collectively and have very good players, particularly Demba Ba. We have to learn from this game because when you lead 1-0, maybe when you don't really deserve it, you have to win that kind of game. If the opponents score a great goal at the end then you accept that but not from a penalty, so that is frustrating and we have to learn from that.

We've been trying to do our best this season; we are working really hard on the training ground and we try to learn quickly. But you don't have time to learn because we need to get results quickly. Everyone involved in the dressing room is going to keep going, keep working together, and I'm sure we will improve. We've been speaking about the attitude of everyone, the team spirit, how we are working and the way we are working tactically with the style, the short passing and build-up from the back.

Mousa Dembélé, Tottenham midfielder
We're still not playing at our best. We have played some good games, like Sunderland and Arsenal away, but in others we can still do better – like in this one. There is a good energy in this team and we are confident for the future. Everyone has something different that the manager wants them to improve on. Our aim is still to finish in the top four.