Wasteful Tottenham ended a miserable week with a narrow defeat by Wolves after a late goal from Adama Traore stunned the Champions League contenders.

Spurs had the better of the chances and twice hit the woodwork, but the crossbar came to Wolves' aid as Traore's effort flew in past Fraser Forster.

Wolves, who are now 13th, had been on the back foot for most of the game but made their late momentum count.

Spurs' inconsistent form continued as they dropped important points in the race for a top four spot.

The first half was fraught with stoppages and neither side built any real momentum, despite some early pressure from Spurs.

There were eight minutes of added time after a long break in play, as Wolves striker Diego Costa was carried off on a stretcher with a knee injury, suffered in an awkward fall following a jump.

Tottenham's Pedro Porro came the closest to an opener when he struck the woodwork with a powerful free-kick shortly before the break.

And just after the restart, Son Heung-min, who had been the first half's most promising player, hit the crossbar from close range.

Wolves, pinned in their own half for much of the opening 45 minutes, were improved after the interval, and Nelson Semedo was inches from connecting with a Raul Jimenez ball across goal.

Jimenez was then denied a first Premier League goal of the season when his header from close range was batted away by Forster.

The momentum continued to swing in Wolves' favour with a string of trademark long-distance Ruben Neves efforts testing the Tottenham goalkeeper.

And Traore sealed all three points for the hosts when he sent the ball rocketing in off the underside of the bar.

Tottenham had been looking to send a message of immediate improvement after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship promotion chasers Sheffield United on Wednesday.

They took the game to the hosts early on and Dejan Kulusevski's curling effort forced Jose Sa into a good save but despite playing with a high intensity, only six of their 21 shots hit the target.

In what was assistant head coach Cristian Stellini's final game in charge before Antonio Conte's return from gall bladder surgery, there were familiar inconsistencies.

Tottenham are four points ahead of fifth-place Newcastle United, who were beaten by Manchester City on Saturday but have two games in hand.

Tottenham assistant head coach Cristian Stellini: "Antonio [Conte's return] will be a massive boost for us from tomorrow until the end of the season.

"It is important that Antonio is back. We want to have him back with a different result but the team show to Antonio it is alive.

"They want to win, they want to control the game, they want to dominate the game and this is important I think."