Spurs can win the title, says Pochettino

REUTERS – It is possible for Tottenham Hotspur to claim their first-ever Premier League title this season, manager Mauricio Pochettino said after a 2-1 victory at Watford on Monday lifted them to third in the table.

Spurs, with 38 points from 19 games, are four behind leaders Arsenal and three off second-placed Leicester City, who play fourth-placed Manchester City on Tuesday.

“I think that the numbers reflect that it (the title) is always possible. But the most important thing for us is to keep working very hard, because we are very young,” Pochettino told reporters.

“You need to show the strength during the whole season and, if we start to speak today about the title, it is still most important to work hard and show in every game what we showed today,” said the Argentine, who took charge at White Hart Lane in May last year.

Spurs visit 11th-placed Everton on Sunday before home games against surprise title contenders Leicester and lowly Sunderland.

“It’s very important to keep our feet on the ground. We have very clever and smart players that are available to learn about football,” Pochettino said.

“The key is to keep behaving in the same way as we did six months ago when we started the league.”

Tottenham have never finished in the top three in the Premier League, ending fourth twice, in 2009-10 and 2011-12.

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)