Chelsea vs Tottenham: Mauricio Pochettino 'not worried' despite Spurs' alarming dip in form

The Argentine believed his side deserved at least a draw from Stamford Bridge

Pochettino saw his side suffer their first league defeat of the season (The Digital South)

Mauricio Pochettino insisted he was ‘not worried’ about a dip in form that has seen Tottenham win once in ten matches, and had no regrets at rotating players in a week of successive defeats.

Speaking after the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea the Spurs manager added he felt his side deserved at least a draw.

“I think we played well,” he said. “I am not worried.The players showed a good response to Monaco, they showed the right mentality. There were many positives. But we lost. In football you have to score goals and defend well. Maybe we were a little bit better, but they got the better result.”

Pochettino rested key players for the midweek match in Monaco, which concluded in a defeat that ended their Champions League campaign, but added: “I do not regret the team selection. We need to use the whole squad. You have to rest some players sometimes. We are professional and try to make the right decision for the team. If we had won you would not be asking.”

The absence of Moussa Sissoko from the 18-man squad was, he said, “tactical”. The French international has only completed 90 minutes twice since his £30m transfer deadline signing from Newcastle.

“This was a test,” said Antonio Conte, Chelsea’s manager, “because Tottenham are a very good team with very good organisation. They started better than us, they put us under a lot of pressure and scored a fantastic goal. But Pedro’s goal gave us confidence.

“We are another team to the one which lost to Arsenal and Liverpool [earlier in the season]. If we had been the same team we would have lost this game.

“We should be pleased, but on Monday we have to start thinking about Manchester City [on Saturday]. It is important to stay humble, to continue to work and trust in our work. We have to keep improving.”