Mauricio: “It’s about being strong”

Mauricio Pochettino spoke about turning a tough period into a ‘positive dynamic’ as we look to turn the tide of a tricky week against Southampton on Saturday (3pm).

Less than a fortnight ago we were celebrating a fantastic first half show and 4-0 win against Palace in the Premier League in our last home game.

Since then, we’ve seen a 2-0 lead clawed back to 2-2 in our Champions League opener at Olympiacos, a 1-0 lead and potential 2-0 advantage denied by VAR turn into a 2-1 loss at Leicester and a penalty shoot-out exit at Colchester in the Carabao Cup.

“We all feel disappointed because we expected to win the last three games and we didn’t win,” said Mauricio after training on Thursday. “It’s a period where we cannot feel happy, but when this type of period arrives, you need to show your face with dignity and take responsibility to try to change it into a positive dynamic.

“It’s about being strong. This period needs to make us stronger in our belief in the way we work. We are going to be positive trying to prepare in the best way to be close to winning against Southampton.

“We need to stay together, try to be positive and start to win games, that’s most important.”

Look out for Mauricio's five-point preview on Southampton on Friday...