Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho insists Gareth Bale's return was not a distraction against West Ham United on Sunday.
Spurs were cruising to victory with a 3-0 buffer before West Ham stormed home to rescue a draw.
Bale came on as a substitute and spurned a chance to make 4-2, but Mourinho says his presence did not have a negative effect on his side.
"I don't think so, I honestly don't think so. The decision not to start him was I think a good decision," Mourinho said.
"A decision to show that he doesn't have a beautiful chair waiting for him in the team and he sits there the first time he can. It was a message to the team that in this team everybody has to fight for positions.
"He's very well accepted in the group. Everyone likes him, and I believe he also likes what he found here. So everything is positive and the focus was not on him. The focus was on the game and he was on the bench for 65 minutes or so and I don't think so, I don't think at all.
"It's a pity that he couldn't score that fourth goal which was a beauty and would have killed the game. But that's football."
