Mauricio Pochettino 'Proud' of Tottenham's Fight Against Fatigue in Victory Over Newcastle

Mauricio Pochettino hailed the mentality and fighting spirit of his Tottenham players following their 2-1 victory over Newcastle United on Saturday. 

The talk prior to Spurs' opening game centred around their lack of transfer activity and the lingering fatigue for many of their players following their World Cup duties, but Tottenham dug deep to hold on to their slender lead - with goals by Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli. 

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"Scrappy game? Good description. No, I don't believe it was a scrappy game. It was a game that from the beginning of the season is always difficult. Teams with a lot of energy," Pochettino said, via football.london. 

"Newcastle showed a lot of energy and had quality. It was a very difficult opponent for us. I think with all the circumstance it was a massive effort. 

"I feel so proud, I think the three points were so important for us. If you put all the circumstances our players deserve massive, massive credit for the victory because it wasn't easy. They started to work Monday and try to prepare the team and start to work in the same way as the previous season.

"It was important for us to provide good balance to the team, try to assess the squad, the possibility that we had to play. Of course the players are going to have a process to improve in their fitness.

"If we want to win and challenge for big things we need to all put our minds and energy into the collective and understand that the collective is the most important. 

On the performance from Harry Kane, who drifted through the game with little impact, Pochettino said: "For me, he's in his best form. I think score or not score I don't have doubts about this. 

"He's in his best form. He worked a lot for the team. Be sure that he is going to score. But what happens with Harry is that he cannot score three goals in every game."