Lloris: Be strong or second best

HUGO LlORIS admits that Tottenham must cut out their mistakes today – or face a derby beating.

While north London rivals Arsenal are the team on the up, Spurs travel to the Emirates with that sinking feeling.

It needs to change – quickly. And keeper Lloris knows it.

Unbeaten in the Premier League they may be, but since Manchester City were beaten 2-0 at White Hart Lane at the start of last month, Spurs have yet to win a game in domestic competition or Europe – six matches in all.

And their recent run was extended after a 1-0 defeat in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen at Wembley on Wednesday.

Spurs captain Lloris, 29, said: “We need to bounce back and put in a great performance.

“If we win or lose, we cannot leave the pitch with the feeling we had after the game on Wednesday.

“Arsenal will be a game with a lot of expectation. It is always important to the players and the fans.”

France No.1 Lloris could not disguise his dismay at the limp offering against Leverkusen that could well mean a Europa League place in the second half of the season rather than combat against Europe’s elite.

That was not part of the Lloris or Spurs blueprint for this season as they want to challenge the best. But now it could be second best. “You cannot pretend to be a challenger, you cannot pretend to be a big club in Europe if we do not do better,” added Lloris.

“Against Leverkusen, my feeling was that we were under pressure, we lost a bit of our strength, we didn’t create a lot, we made a lot of mistakes.

“We have a proper style to play football and on Wednesday night we did not recognise it.”

Spurs have clearly been hampered by the loss of Harry Kane who has been injured since mid-September.

The England striker is hoping to be fit for today’s clash, and Lloris admitted: “You know Harry is important to the team and maybe he will give us a little boost. That is what we need.

“We used to score more, that is true. But we have no excuse. We’re all involved, it is not only the offensive players and we need to find a solution.

“We have some important players in the team and when they miss some games sometimes it can affect the balance of the team. But now we can’t have any excuses and must just look to the match at Arsenal.”

Manager Mauricio Pochettino is desperate to recall Kane as he needs his goalscoring touch and he will give the 23-year-old every chance to prove he is ready for a return.

And he also hopes he can pick Mousa Dembele, who had to come off against Leverkusen with a thigh injury.