LEONARDO ULLOA was left with his hopes of moving to Sunderland dashed on deadline day, with a disappointed David Moyes left admitting ‘some clubs just didn’t want to sell to us’.

The Black Cats boss was forced to admit defeat in his pursuit of Ulloa a few hours before he watched his team turn in a spirited display that earned a point against second-placed Tottenham in the Premier League.

Now Moyes, knowing the squad he has at his disposal must see them through in the fight to stay in the top-flight, is desperate to see his players show the sort of spirit and commitment in the final 15 matches of the season that they showed to finish goalless against Spurs.

Sunderland had hoped a deal would eventually be done for Ulloa, only for reigning champions Leicester to maintain their stance that they would not sell to a rival towards the bottom of the table.

The final offer of three was made and amounted to an initial £7.5m plus add-ons and yet was still rejected for a 30-year-old striker who had told the Foxes he wanted to leave; the South American went as far as to suggest he had felt betrayed by Claudio Ranieri for not selling.

A failure to bring in the former Brighton man means Sunderland only have Jermain Defoe as a recognised striker who is fit and experienced because Victor Anichebe is missing for the next ten weeks through injury.

Moyes said: “I don’t know if I would say frustrated. We tried to add to the squad if we could. We knew it would be a difficult few days in trying to get what we wanted.

“The injury to Victor Anichebe is what made things a lot harder for us, we had to look at things differently then. It wasn’t through the want of trying. Some players we couldn’t get and some clubs didn’t want to sell us players we wanted.

“Now we need to get a great team spirit going here, a togetherness, we need to be rugged and at times a bit ugly. We did that at times tonight against Tottenham and we have to maintain that.”

While Sunderland failed to bring in Ulloa, they have signed Bryan Oviedo, Darron Gibson and Joleon Lescott this month; they have offloaded Patrick van Aanholt in a deal worth £14m.

Moyes was also able to keep hold of Lamine Kone. The Ivorian was wanted by a number of clubs but returned from Africa Cup of Nations duty, along with midfielder Didier Ndong, and turned in a strong display to keep Spurs at bay.

The Sunderland boss said: “The two lads looked a bit fresher, a bit like a holiday, they have been away for a while and they had a bit of freshness about them, like they did not have the drain of all the games all the time. I hope the two of them continue like that.”

The big frustration after the draw with Tottenham was that the point gained mattered little considering the results of those immediately above them.

Crystal Palace and Swansea City both won, meaning Sunderland will head to Selhurst Park on Saturday with a five point gap to make up to safety.

Moyes said: “This has to be a start tonight. I know how the other results have gone, a point against Tottenham is not a bad way to start, like that we had against Liverpool.

“Our home form, with the exception of Stoke in the league, has been relatively OK. But one point will not be enough, three is what we will need to get.

“We have worked hard and stayed in the game and I was disappointed with the other results. Maybe we can do that now and other managers will feel the same as we do down the line.

“The team spirit was terrific, the togetherness was great and I honestly think the players gave their all. From what we have got I think the players have done what they can.

“The players should take pride in the performance. They stuck at it defensively, I would like us to play better but the players were resilient and didn’t make any of the mistakes that have conceded goals recently.”

Sunderland allowed three academy players to head out on loan. Oliver Pain has gone to Motherwell, Tom Beadling to Bury and Andrew Nelson to Hartlepool.