Tottenham vs Chelsea: Spurs must show 'character and spirit' to compete with Chelsea, demands Mauricio Pochettino

Spurs have been climbing the table in recent weeks

Mauricio Pochettino says Spurs are heading in right direction (GETTY IMAGES)

During Tottenham’s recent improvement in form, there is one result that stands out. Spurs lost 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on 3 December, which is still their only domestic defeat in almost two months.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side host Chelsea in their first match of 2015 and he is confident they can be far more competitive this time around against Jose Mourinho’s league leaders. “We need to believe,” he said. “We are in a different momentum to two months ago. We have grown and learned from that game and our organisation and mentality and physical condition, I think we have recuperated from this game.”

As Pochettino said, Spurs “started very well” that night but the relentless Chelsea machine turned them over. “We need to show the same character and spirit,” he said. “This is important as in the past one or two months we have improved a lot in this area and I think we are happy.”

Beating Chelsea, though, is a difficult proposition and Pochettino said Spurs “need to try to change” their mentality. He has a record of upsetting the odds – in one of his first games as Espanyol coach he beat Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. But he never beat Mourinho’s Real Madrid.