Spurs back in race for title as they brush aside Foxes

Mauricio Pochettino challenged his Tottenham squad to fight for silverware on two fronts after seeing his team thrust themselves back into the Premier League title race with a 2-0 victory at Leicester City ahead of a Champions League trip to Barcelona in midweek.

The Tottenham manager saw his side brush the Foxes aside despite Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen, two of his most potent attacking players, playing cameo roles off the bench.

The pair will now be fresh for Tuesday’s crucial Champions League trip to Catalonia with Spurs needing to win at Camp Nou to guarantee progress to the last 16.

And Pochettino believes all of his players will have a role in the hectic weeks ahead.

“To show the belief you have in the squad is massive.

“There’s no point in players playing every three days. It’s not healthy, they need to rest and need some time to breathe. We are showing we trust all the players. In this busy period everybody needs to be focused.”

Victory in the East Midlands moved Tottenham back into third, just six points off the top of the Premier League, now headed by Liverpool following Manchester City’s first defeat of the season at Chelsea.

By staying in the race despite injury problems and delays over moving into the club’s new stadium, Pochettino now believes his players can keep pace with the league leaders.

“It’s a massive win for us. The reality is we are there, fighting Liverpool, City, Chelsea and Arsenal – that’s the reality.

“It was a tough place, so I’m very happy with the performance. I am so pleased and it allows us to start thinking about Barcelona.”

In the absence of Kane and Eriksen, Son Heung-min came to the fore by opening the scoring with a left-footed rocket from the edge of the penalty area before crossing for Dele Alli to head home Spurs’ second just before the hour mark.

Son’s impact in the first few months of the season was limited by his participation in the Asian Games, but the South Korean has been in fine form in recent weeks.

“The first few months of the season I was a little bit disappointed because he travelled a lot, but after a rest and not going with the national team, he was so focused on trying to improve,” added Pochettino.

The only blight on a bright night for Pochettino was an injury to right-back Serge Aurier that could rule the Ivorian out for the Barcelona match.

However, Pochettino is still confident Spurs can produce on the biggest stage to cap a remarkable comeback after picking up just one point from their opening three Champions League games.

“It will be a massive game. They are qualified for the next stage, but in the Champions League nobody gives you a present,” he said. “We need to win and deserve to win and the mentality has got to be 200%.” –