Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino feels his side have plenty of reasons to be positive as they prepare to welcome Newcastle to White Hart Lane on Sunday.

The Spurs manager was reflecting on last weekend’s 4-1 loss to champions Manchester City and felt his side had emerged with credit, despite another heavy loss at the Etihad Stadium.

“We had a very good game against City,” he said. “The difference in the score does not reflect the real situation during the game.”
Pochettino surprisingly recalled striker Roberto Soldado to his starting line-up for that game and the Spaniard crucially missed a penalty when City led 2-1.

Despite that miss, Soldado showed glimpses of the form that convinced Andre Villas-Boas to part with £26m to sign him from Valencia only a year ago. He has turned into something of a misfit at Spurs, with just six goals in 29 league appearances so far.

Pochettino faces a striker selection dilemma on whether to retain the Spaniard for the visit of Newcastle or recall Emmanuel Adebayor, who has found the net only once in seven this season.

Harry Kane could also be in contention to face Newcastle, after helping himself to a hat-trick in the Europa League win over Asteras Tripolis on Thursday.

Pochettino is urging caution from the White Hart Lane faithful as Spurs look to improve their league form, which has seen them win only one of their last six games.

He said: “We are still improving, we are still in construction in the way we need to set up our strong base to perform in every game better.”

Spurs are 1.68 to make it three wins from five at home this season with Newcastle 4.91 to win and the draw 3.69