Pochettino explains why he is proud of his players

Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the Carabao Cup after losing to Chelsea in a penalty shootout at Stamford Bridge last night.

The home dominated the first half and went two goals ahead within the space of the first 38 minutes through N’Golo Kante and EdenHazard.

An injury-hit Spurs fought back in the second and drew level on aggregate through a Fernando Llorente header.

Despite having the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Son Heung-Min and Victor Wanyama unavailable along with suffering injuries to Moussa Sissoko and Ben Davies during the game the away side fought tooth and nail to push the tie to penalties.

However, after Eric Dier and Lucas Moura failing to convert their spot kicks, Chelsea eventually progressed to the final.

Following the game, Mauricio Pochettino congratulated Chelsea and did not use the injuries as an excuse.

The Tottenham manager also applauded his players’ efforts and insisted that they gave everything.

Speaking in the post-match press conference, Pochettino told Football.London, “I think that is the competition. We came here to try to win the game and to try and be in the final. Congratulations to Chelsea. I think they deserved. We made an unbelievable effort. This season we are fighting not only with the opponents but with everything that’s happened. That is not an excuse.”

“It’ll make us stronger. We have three more competitions, still, the FA Cup on Sunday, the Champions League and Premier League of course.”

“We arrived in a semi-final and lost to Chelsea, one of the best teams in Europe. I can only feel proud of the performance and the way we played and competed. When you arrive in this type of situation, the most important thing is you have to compete. We did that in both legs.”

“We have unbelievable players and squad, the effort was brilliant. Everyone saw the performance of the team, and how we play. I can only feel proud and congratulate them.”

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