Victory matters most to Mousa

Mousa Dembele has prioritised his desire to beat Southampton over any pre-match hype surrounding Mauricio Pochettino facing his former club for the first time this weekend.

The Belgian international midfielder returned to action as a second half substitute in Thursday’s Europa League clash with Besiktas, having missed last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal.

With home advantage behind us, Mousa is determined to see us return to winning ways against the Saints as we play our final Premier League match before this month’s international break.

“It doesn’t matter what team comes to White Hart Lane, we want to win every game,” he declared.

“Things like Mauricio coming up against his old club don’t make a difference, we want to beat every team. In every game there is something special for someone but for the team and the club, we have to win every match.

“It was a good performance at Arsenal but this is a different game. Southampton will do everything to beat us at our place but we know this and we’ve got a good team who will do anything to win.

“We need to be strong at home in front of our own supporters and it’s going to be a massive game for us.”

Mousa admitted to feeling a sense of regret at the way Thursday’s European match against Besiktas ended, Demba Ba’s late penalty cancelling out Harry Kane’s opener as the contest ended 1-1 at the Lane.

“It was quite disappointing overall,” he said. “They were a good side and played some good football, but we’re disappointed because we were 1-0 up and we thought the game would finish like that.”