We’ve proved we’re still alive, insists Pochettino as focus switches to Gent
MAURICIO POCHETTINO felt Tottenham had to prove their season was still alive against Fulham yesterday after a week of damaging defeats in the Premier League and Europa League. The Spurs manager said: ‘We assessed the players after Thursday, after two defeats by Liverpool and Gent. ‘Many players wanted to play and didn’t feel tired. It was a great opportunity to show that we are alive and end that bad feeling after two defeats. ‘We have another “final” at Wembley against Gent on Thursday and we’ll need to feel fresh, and to bring some confidence back. That was important today. ‘All the players wanted to play and take the responsibility in a very difficult stadium, against a very difficult team — a side who try to play, have a great manager and very good players. We showed them full respect but played as we need to play in every game.’ Tottenham go into the second leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie with Gent looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit. Pochettino said: ‘Thursday is a massive game for us. We need to feel we must win and go to the next round, and now we’re not allowed to speak about the FA Cup. ‘OK, we can see the draw and then we must forget and be focused for Thursday.’ Tottenham’s hat-trick hero Harry Kane, who now has 19 goals in all competitions this season, said: ‘We’ve had a few not so great results recently so we wanted to come here and win. ‘We played very well, we were comfortable and probably should have had a few more goals. It was a great game. ‘I thought the manager was going to take me off soon. But fortunately I was able to sneak the third one in before I got taken off.’ Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic said: ‘After two defeats, they didn’t want to take too many risks. It’s very clear they came into the game with the highest level of concentration. They played as if they were playing against Chelsea and, in the end, all credit to them for that. ‘They worked without the ball, and showed unity in the game working together. I was impressed with that part of their game.’