Bad injury sours ‘great performance’ for Poch

Ian Watson

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged that the injury suffered by Jan Vertonghen had taken the gloss off a “great performance” in the 4-0 win over West Brom.

Harry Kane, who became a father for the first time last weekend, rounded off a brilliant week with a fine treble at White Hart Lane as the Baggies were battered, with the other goal coming from a Christian Eriksen strike deflected in by the unfortunate Gareth McAuley.

Vertonghen, though, went off looking in some pain on 64 minutes with an apparent ankle injury and Pochettino admits he is concerned for his centre-half.

“It’s true,” the Argentinian said. “It’s disappointing for us, that situation. Looks bad, looks bad. We need to wait until (Sunday), Monday to assess better. He’s disappointed. He’s a very important player. We will push him to recover, we will try to help him.”

Pochettino praised his team for continuing their momentum from their 2-0 win over leaders Chelsea 10 days ago.

“It was a great performance for the team, very pleased. very solid performance,” he said. “I’m very happy because the way we played was very important for us, after the Chelsea victory, to get three points now and to fight for big things.”

Pochettino insists his side have learned lessons from last term, when their title challenge faded badly in the final stages.

“I think we are showing a good maturity,” he said. “The team has learned a lot from last season. We are in a very good momentum and it’s important to keep that if you want to fight and challenge for big things.”

Hat-trick hero Kane labelled the win as Tottenham’s best display of the season.

Kane, who became a father for the first time last weekend, rounded off a brilliant week with a fine treble at White Hart Lane as the Baggies were battered, with the other goal coming from a Christian Eriksen strike deflected in by the unfortunate Gareth McAuley.

“We were outstanding today,” the 23-year-old England striker said on Sky Sports 1. “I’d say that would probably be our best performance of the season. We could’ve scored a lot more if it wasn’t for Ben (Foster) in goal – he made some unbelievable saves.

“We wanted to keep our streak going, and we’ve done that.”

Kane was told after the game he had become the Spurs player to reach 60 Premier League goals the quickest.

“That’s fantastic,” he said. “I don’t look at records too much – I just try to go out there and play and score for my team, win for my team. It’s a fantastic day all round.”

The new father added: “It’s amazing. The week has been a bit of a whirlwind, obviously having a little daughter – just amazing, the whole week, and to finish it off like this is the best way possible.”

Albion boss Tony Pulis accepted his side had not been at their best.

“When you come to these grounds, against these teams, you’ve got to be at your best – not just technically but mentally as well, and I think we were short today,” he said.

“I’m not going to criticise our players. Our players have done fantastic so far this year, but today we just weren’t on it. (But) I don’t take any credit away from Tottenham, who are a very good team.”