Pochettino tough on Spurs time off

Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino handed his squad a much-needed break during the week – but revealed he turned down requests for a longer rest as he worked his players hard ahead of Sunday’s trip to Manchester United.

Having won on their previous two visits to Old Trafford, Spurs can improve their chances of a top-four finish if they can make it a hat-trick this weekend.

With European commitments now at an end and no more domestic cup competition, Pochettino could afford to allow his players some welcome recouperation – but stopped short from granting them more than he felt neccassary.

“They only had two days off,” he said.

“They asked for more but we need to work. They deserved the two days off to have time with their families.

“It has been tough since the beginning of the season. We have 10 more games and an international break when a lot of players will play a lot more games.

“In the way that we play we want to improve our play and it was important to have a clean week to work. This week was very good and we have still worked hard.”

The two teams drew 0-0 when Spurs faced Louis van Gaal’s United over the festive period – but Pochettino is targeting all three points when he travels north on Sunday as they look to push towards a place in next season’s Champions League.

“We are a very good team and we go to Manchester believing in our way and trying to get three points,” he added.

“We have full respect for Man United but we are very focused on our game. A lot of teams are fighting for the same target. We are very close but we know it is very difficult. We have 10 games ahead. We believe in our way and have to go step by step. We will see what will happen.”

[button color=”blue” size=”big” alignment=”center” rel=”follow” openin=”samewindow” url=”http://bit.ly/inplay8SW”]Man Utd vs Spurs – Talk with your fellow fans INPLAY – Check out the app[/button]