Pochettino calls for huge effort from Tottenham at Swansea

Mauricio Pochettino is preparing Tottenham for their seventh match in a gruelling three-week period, making Sunday’s difficult trip to Swansea even tougher.

The upcoming international break will be welcome respite for the north Londoners after a frantic spell of fixtures.

It is a test they have passed impressively bar the Capital One Cup derby defeat to Arsenal, with Thursday’s Europa League draw in Monaco coming just days after comprehensively beating Manchester City.

That was a third straight Premier League win and a run Spurs will look to extend at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday – a task Pochettino knows will be far from easy.

“We expect another big, big game and a very tough game,” the Tottenham head coach said. “Swansea is a team that started the season very well.

“I think that they have a lot of good players and play in a philosophy that always puts the opposition in a very difficult situation.

“I think it is another a challenge for us to compete Sunday.

“It is true that the effort was fantastic from players in the last few weeks. We played a lot of games and very tough games.

“We need to compete and make a big effort, but before the international break we need to do our best, to give our best, and try to win the game.

“They are a very important three points for us to keep our position or improve our position in the table.

“It’s true that we will expect a very tough game and they have had all week to prepare for the game against us. Now, we are thinking to be ready for Sunday.”

It is a match for which in-form attacker Son Heung-min is amongst the absentees.

The £22million summer acquisition has impressed in his short time at White Hart Lane and his cutting edge was missing at the Stade Louis II on Thursday.

Erik Lamela gave Spurs a deserved lead against Monaco, but Pochettino was left ruing missed opportunities as the hosts secured a late 1-1 draw.

“We had chances and needed to create more because the game was there for us,” he said.

“The second half was under our control, we dominated but then we conceded a goal.

“In football, this can happen. You need to score and kill the game. We needed to be more clinical.

“I’m disappointed but at the same time, I’m happy with the performance and the effort, that was brilliant.

“We’ve played a lot of tough games in the last few weeks and we need to praise the players because the effort from the squad has been fantastic.

“Now we have to be ready for Swansea, another difficult game.”

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