Leicester are just three points away from being crowned Premier League champions after Spurs slipped up at home to West Brom following an uncharacteristically nervy display.

It was supposed to be the easiest game of Tottenham’s run-in, a home match against a West Brom side with nothing to play for and already dreaming of the beach. Fans and players alike arrived at White Hart Lane full of expectation, but left deflated. In what will go down as the most disappointing night in recent Spurs memory, the north Londoners’ fox hunt came to a premature end.

A 1-1 draw and two dropped points means Leicester City have taken a huge stride towards the title without even kicking a ball. A victory against Manchester United at the weekend and they will be champions. The Spurs players looked distraught at that realisation upon full-time. Kyle Walker dropped to the floor, Mauricio Pochettino appeared dumbstruck and Toby Alderweireld held his head in his hands. They clearly believed they could win the title, but now that hope is gone.

So convincing in wins over United and Stoke City, many pundits were expecting Tottenham to win out for the rest of the season, and they surely would not come unstuck against a Baggies side who had scored just 12 times on the road. But Craig Dawson’s header has added yet another twist to this most topsy-turvy of seasons as the swashbuckling bravado Spurs showed in the Potteries completely evaporated.

In truth, the atmosphere was subdued throughout. This was the only ‘gimme’ on Spurs’ fixture list and there was a palpable sense from the home crowd that victory was the absolute minimum expectation. Bag the points and move on to bigger tests. Last week they could cut the gap, now they were back to merely keeping up. Even when they led, the renditions of “Leicester City, we’re coming for you” lacked any real conviction.

The approaches from the two sides could hardly have been further apart in the early exchanges. Tony Pulis, as is his custom, barked orders from the sidelines as his side perched on their own 18-yard line. Two banks of four, Stephane Sessegnon flittering from side to side as and when Tottenham switched the play, and Solomon Rondon putting the lonely in lone striker.

Spurs dominated early on, attacking with vibrancy, and were thwarted several times by Boaz Myhill – previous teams might have felt as though history was repeating itself when he pushed Harry Kane’s venomous effort onto the post. Back in 2010, the then Hull City goalkeeper kept a clean sheet at White Hart Lane despite being bombarded by 16 attempts on target.

But when the Welshman was finally beaten by an own goal (the first Spurs have benefitted from this season), it did not lead to an onslaught. Any release of nerves only produced complacency, not confidence. For perhaps the first time this season, Tottenham looked genuinely weighed down by the need to hang onto their victory. When they were left with 17 minutes to find a winner, they appeared overcome with anxiety.

“Even at 1-0 I didn’t feel comfortable,” Mauricio Pochettino told Sky Sports afterwards. “The game was always open, too open, my feeling was that we needed to kill the game.” West Brom certainly improved in the second half, but Spurs’ failure to control the tempo and rhythm of the match was born out of nervousness.

Quite simply, they stopped playing their usual fearless style. In the first half they tried to unlock West Brom with short, quick passing, in the second half they were restricted to long shots and never got in behind despite the away side showing more adventure. They failed to have a single shot on target in the second period, and their tally of two across 90 minutes is their lowest at home since October 2014.

The fact that Leicester have been able to play without such inhibitions speaks volumes. Spurs may have scored more goals and conceded fewer, but the Foxes’ resilience is unmatched in the Premier League. They have never wavered from their style, never lost their belief, never buckled. When Spurs were feeling the pressure and unable to play their usual free-flowing football, they fizzled out. By contrast, Leicester have made 1-0 wins look almost easy at times and when adversity strikes, the King Power Stadium gets louder and the players respond.

To make matters worse, Dele Alli is unlikely to play again this season. On Sunday evening the precocious talent was named PFA Young Player of the Year. On Monday night he was powerless as Spurs dropped points. Now he is sweating over the prospect of being retrospectively punished for a punch that went unseen.

The 20-year-old, who has been a teenager for most of his maiden campaign in the top-flight, has always played close to the edge. There’s a fire in his eyes not dissimilar to the red mist that would descend over a young Wayne Rooney. Largely his altercations could be categorised as youthful overexuberance rather than malicious or dangerous, a combination of niggly fouls and heated words.

“He’s a little bit naughty but it’s good, I like it,” remarked Pochettino after Alli had petulantly kicked out at Fiorentina’s Nenad Tomovi. But against West Brom he went too far. Having endured a long-running battle with Claudio Yacob – not the only player of that first name to cause Spurs misery this season – he finally lost his cool and aimed a punch into the gut of the Argentine. The referee missed it, but the FA will not.

Of course, Alli’s likely suspension – and the injury suffered by Eric Dier – scarcely matters now. Tottenham needed to win against West Brom, and for the rest of the season, to try and catch Leicester. But now mission improbable has turned into a virtual impossibility.

What Tottenham must not do now is become downhearted. This young side, the youngest in the Premier League, have learned a vital lesson about the competitiveness of the division. Even a match that should be an easy three points can torpedo a dream. They have arrived as title challengers well ahead of schedule and now must ensure they tie up a top-two finish, north London bragging rights and an automatic spot in the Champions League group stages. The future is still bright, even if their title hopes, for now, have been extinguished.