Mauricio Pochettino Insists 10-Man Tottenham Were 'Brave' to Hold on for Draw Against Watford

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino hailed his side as 'brave' after his 10-man team held on for a 1-1 draw against Watford on Saturday.

Spurs fell behind to a 13th minute Christian Kabasele header, before Heung-Min Son equalised for the visitors 11 minutes later. 

The game then changed in the 52nd minute as Davinson Sanchez received his marching orders for a high elbow on Richarlison, but Pochettino's men held on to take a point back to North London.

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Speak post-match to Sky Sports, he said: "It's a difficult feeling to play more than 40 minutes with 10 men. The performance was very good under the circumstances.

"I'm not going to talk about if it was or not a red card. We did well because we did not concede chances. We were brave and we tried to go forward."

Although Spurs moved up a position to 6th in the Premier League, they are four points off a Champions League place and already 15 points behind runaway leaders Manchester City after failing to record a league win since early November. 

Pochettino however was pleased with his side's performance and believes he can build on his team's efforts in the games to come.

He continued, stating: "I am happy with the performance. We wanted to win but under the circumstances I am happy. 

"The team is alive, is fighting. We feel disappointed because we feel we deserve more points than we have, but that is football. We must take some positives from this period."

Next for Tottenham is their final Champions League group game against Apoel Nicosia on Wednesday, before a home game against Stoke City on Saturday, with Pochettino allaying any doubts about his side's recent poor form. 

He concluded: "We are calm. We want to win, but I think the team is in a good way."