Pochettino keen to bring big club mentality to Spurs
REUTERS - Tottenham Hotspur should start behaving like a big team and not worry about north London rivals Arsenal overtaking them in the Premier League, manager Mauricio Pochettino has said.
Second-placed Spurs, who are two points ahead of Arsenal, need to avoid defeat in their final league game of the season at relegation-threatened Newcastle United to ensure they finish above the Gunners for the first time since 1995.
Pochettino, however, is determined not to obsess about local bragging rights and has urged all at White Hart Lane to adopt a similar approach.
"The last few weeks have been tough, (but) we are still in a great position... We need to look at ourselves, not at our neighbour," Pochettino told British media.
Tottenham were Leicester City's closest challengers for the title but a 2-2 draw at Chelsea last week handed the trophy to the midlands club and ended Spurs' hopes of a first English top-flight crown since 1961.
"We need to start to think like a big club, not worrying about what's happening in another house. We still need to learn a lot of things - we need to keep improving into next season," Pochettino said.
"We need to change that mentality, to be strong and this is what we need to change to be a big, big, big club."
(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)