POCH: SOFT? NO, WE ARE ALL FIGHTERS

MAURICIO POCHETTINO has brushed off Gary Neville’s “spineless” jibe and claims his team is full of “fight and belief”. The Tottenham boss saw his side take a 3-0 lead at Wolves before holding on for a 3-2 win. But Pochettino (above) said he was not bothered by TV pundit Neville’s assessment last week that Spurs had been “spineless and soft” for 30 years.

He said: “When some people make some comments, you have to respect the comments. When people criticise me, I accept it. “But since I arrived here, we have created a very good culture of fight and belief. It was difficult to create that but I am happy. “We can win or lose, but we are so intense and today the effort was fantastic.

“We came from Manchester City, when we ran more than 120km, and West Ham was similar. “This was the same and showed the team has a very strong character.”

But Pochettino did admit he is worried about Mousa Dembele’s fitness ahead of the must-win Champions League game with PSV Eindhoven tomorrow.

The midfielder came off with an ankle injury after just six minutes and will be assessed before the game. “We don’t know but are a little bit worried,” Pochettino added. “We need to assess him on Monday. It’s very painful now, but I hope it’s not a big issue and he can be with us.”