Tottenham Hotspur's Toby Alderweireld has revealed "the world stopped" at full-time in Monday's 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion -- a result which all but ended Spurs' hopes of beating Leicester City to the Premier League title.
West Brom's Craig Dawson scored at both ends to earn the visitors a draw, leaving Spurs trailing the Foxes by seven points with three matches remaining.
Just one more win will seal the title for Leicester and it would now take a remarkable turnaround for Spurs to claim a first championship since 1961.
A number of Spurs players looked distraught at the final whistle on Monday -- none more so than Alderweireld, who was left with his head in his hands.
"The world stopped for a minute," he told Spurs' official website. "You want to process it in that minute but you can't find the answer. Everyone was devastated and you could have put a camera on anyone, it would be the same, every player, every member of staff, every fan.
"We deserved the win, but sometimes in football you don't get what you deserve. It was very painful, especially at home and in the title race."
Spurs hit the woodwork three times against the Baggies but could not add a second goal after Dawson had bundled Christian Eriksen's cross into his own net after 33 minutes.
"If we played badly you could accept it more, but we had to kill the game," Alderweireld added. "It's always difficult when it's 1-0. That's what we said, even at Stoke, we said 'get the second and third goals' because there is always a chance, a corner, set-piece, one difficult ball into the box. That's what happened and it's so disappointing. At that moment, it just hit me."
As the players came to terms with the result the Spurs fans recovered and found their voices, and Alderweireld is full of admiration for the White Hart Lane faithful.
Hear from @AlderweireldTob who is keeping positive after Monday's result - https://t.co/Zb1LBBXfq7 #TogetherTHFC pic.twitter.com/jMrt110BI5
- Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 27, 2016
"The fans have been unbelievable this season, even at the start when we weren't second or third, they have supported us throughout," said the defender, who was named in the PFA Team of the Year last week after a near-faultless debut campaign at Tottenham.
"They have seen the work we've put in, they know we are a young squad and we give everything. The crowd can feel that and I think they are feeling something special is happening at this club.
"Even when the whistle went against West Brom and it was 1-1 they were still right behind the team and that's very important for us. That's why we want to give the fans as much as possible.
"We want to give them the title. Okay, now that's difficult, but if we give them the Champions League next season it's the right step. We have to finish it off of course and do our jobs, but hopefully that's something to look forward to next season."