Pochettino eyes end to transfer drought

MAURICIO POCHETTINO insists Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 victory at Newcastle United in their Premier League opener has not altered his desire to finally strengthen his squad before the transfer deadline.

The Spurs boss was encouraged that they started the season by winning a game that was finely balanced until Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey was sent off early in the second half on Sunday.

Newly-promoted Newcastle had coped comfortably with the Tottenham attack, but Shelvey’s foolish stamp on Dele Alli was the turning point.

Goals from Alli and Ben Davies punished Shelvey’s rush of blood, but Pochettino still wants to bring in new players before the transfer window shuts at the end of August as he aims to emulate last season’s title challenge.

“It was important to start with three points, but it wasn’t a great game and wasn’t our best performance. The most important thing for me was starting the season in the right way,” he said.

“The balance of the team is the main thing and we need some new players to bring some new energy. It is important to challenge your best players and refresh the squad.

“We are calm enough to compete in the same way as we competed last season, but we need to sign some players before the end of the transfer window.

“We have 10 months to go and we are involved in four competitions, so we need more competition, more quality and more people who can help keep the level we want to show in every game.”

Shelvey, who now faces a three-match suspension, apologised to manager Rafael Benitez and his teammates in the dressing room after the game.

“The rules are the rules and he made a mistake,” said Benitez.

But Benitez also claimed that a tackle from Tottenham’s Harry Kane that ended Florian Lejeune’s involvement in the game was a worse challenge, although it only merited a yellow card.

“There were a lot of positives, but we know we are in the Premier League and have to do everything really well if you want to win games,” Benitez said.

“All we had going on the pitch was lost because we made one mistake. Jonjo knows he made a mistake and apologised, but we have lost the game.” – AFP