Burnley v Spurs - Mauricio's preview

Mauricio Pochettino has laid out the key to victory at Burnley on Saturday.

It’s always one of the toughest assignments in the Premier League, but we face the Clarets as they are on a fine run of form - seven unbeaten in the Premier League, a recent draw at Old Trafford - in the early 12.30pm kick-off at Turf Moor.

We’ve won our last four straight matches in the Premier League and Mauricio stated: “The key for us is to be available to fight for every action.

“Burnley are doing a fantastic job, they are going to challenge us and in the way they play, they are so aggressive and we need to match that aggression and try to play in the way we normally play.

“So, for me, the key is to match them in the way they play, they are aggressive, they challenge you and if we are capable of matching them in that aspect I think it will be 50 per cent of our job done.”

Mauricio on... a clear week

“It’s so weird! After playing a lot (24 games in 80 days in all competitions) to have a few days to recover and train was very good and I hope we arrive at Burnley with our best energy. That’s what we wanted to provide the team. It’s going to be tough. Burnley are doing well and we need to arrive ready to fight and to compete in our best way.”

Mauricio on... coming out of a playing routine

“You never know what is best. It’s true, when you are on a very good run, it’s good to continue playing because it’s all positive. At the same time, you can create another positive run with the work you are doing to recover and to be stronger than before. Always, when you compete, it’s difficult to find the space, the time to work on the things you want to. For me and for us, it’s a positive thing to have time to work with the team.”

Mauricio on… Burnley

“They have a very good squad and I respect Sean Dyche a lot. He’s doing a great job. It’s always tough to play against a team that’s so well organised and away from home, it’s difficult. But we trust in ourselves and we are going there to try to win the three points because for us, it would be a massive victory.”

Mauricio on... focus

The manager underlined that full focus was on Burnley ahead of a huge week - a derby double-header in the Premier League at Chelsea (Wednesday, 8pm) and then Arsenal at Wembley (Saturday week, 12.30pm) followed by the Champions League Round of 16, second leg at Borussia Dortmund (Tuesday 5 March, 8pm).

Mauricio said: “For us, Saturday is most important. The focus is Burnley. If we are capable of winning three points there, we’ll see the game against Chelsea in a different way. It’s so important to win and that the mentality is good and I hope in the week we’ve had to work that we’ve translated this message - don’t think Chelsea, don’t think Arsenal, don’t think Borussia Dortmund - it’s only Burnley. It’s going to be tough and we are going to struggle if we are not focused 100 per cent to compete in the best way. If we are focused we will be close to winning because we have the quality. That is the key part of the game for Saturday. We can be our own worst enemy if we don’t think in that way. The mentality must be that this is the most important game.”