BOTTLERS ARE NOW BATTLERS

JERMAINE JENAS says Tottenham are genuine contenders to win the Champions League – because Mauricio Pochettino has converted them from bottlers to battlers.

They face Borussia Dortmund’s famous Yellow Wall of noise (below) insulated by a three-goal cushion from the first leg.

But where Harry Kane admitted, after the 1-1 draw with Arsenal they still need to “find a way to get it done” when the pressure is greatest, former Spurs midfielder Jenas believes Pochettino has given them backbone.

He pointed to critical late goals against Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League group phase, which rescued Tottenham from elimination, as evidence of that. The BT Sport pundit (above) said: “Bottlers? I don’t associate that word with this group of players and this club. I think one of the greatest things Mauricio Pochettino has done for Tottenham is to flip that perception on its head.

“At the club I played for, it was OK to lose sometimes. There wasn’t a feeling, like the one at Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, where there was a demand for trophies year in, year out. “People keep asking me about Manchester City and the quadruple – I would put Spurs’ chances of winning the Champions League on a parallel with that.

“For me, there isn’t really an outright favourite to win it.”