Spurs boss not ready to throw in the towel

– Mauricio Pochettino is refusing to give up on Tottenham’s Premier League title challenge after a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough left them nine points behind leaders Chelsea.

Spurs had to work hard for victory on Saturday and needed a Harry Kane (right) second-half penalty to end Middlesbrough’s resistance.

“Nine points is okay, it’s three games but it’s up to Chelsea now. It’s up to us to keep pushing, win games,” said the Tottenham boss.

“We still have a chance to try to compete and fight and be one of the contenders for the Premier League. We’ll see what happens, there are a lot of games left.

“Our focus is to try to win every game and close the gap on Chelsea. But we are not thinking about where we can finish, we are thinking about improving.

“Closing the gap will be difficult – nine points is tough to reduce but in football you always have to believe. The most important is to try to play every game.”

Tottenham dropped points against Sunderland in their previous game and there was a danger of history repeating itself on Saturday.

Middlesbrough had already gone to Arsenal and Manchester City and returned with a point and Pochettino’s side were left frustrated by Middlesbrough goalkeeper Victor Valdes’ heroics.

Finally the pressure told when Bernardo Espona hauled down Son Heung-Min for a 58th-minute penalty that was emphatically converted by Kane.

It could have been more but Pochettino believes his young team are coming of age.

“We learned a lot from last season and the team is very competitive,” he said.

“It’s good to put the standard higher. I am happy to put pressure on us and say we are real contenders and we are a team ready to win the title. I manage pressure very well, no problem.”

Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka believes his side are good enough to avoid relegation.

“We have shown we can compete against every team. The players have been amazing,” he said.

“If we keep playing with there same organisation and attitude we will be okay.”

Valdes marred a fine display by clashing with Dele Alli and he could face FA action after appearing to push a glove into the Tottenham midfielder’s face. – AFP