Friday 26 February 2016 08:36, UK
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino does not plan to prioritise the Premier League over the Europa League after his side progressed in Europe.
Spurs beat Fiorentina 3-0 on Thursday evening to secure a 4-1 aggregate win and join Liverpool and Manchester United in the last 16, which gets underway on March 10.
Before then, they face Swansea, West Ham and Arsenal as they look to maintain their Premier League title challenge and close a two-point gap on leaders Leicester.
"It's true that maybe for the supporters the Premier League is more important but we need to show we respect both competitions," said Pochettino. "I think we have enough quality and a big enough squad that we can do both.
"Why prioritise one of them? We have ahead three important games in the Premier League, and then we will think about the next round of the Europa League.
"I think that we have to try to be competitive in every competition. We are happy in the way that we are and now I think we need to put all our energy into recovering our players and to feeling good for the next game."
Spurs were comfortable winners against Fiorentina despite missing top scorer Harry Kane due to a broken nose.
Asked if Kane will be fit to face Swansea on Sunday, Pochettino said: "Tomorrow [Friday] we'll see. We assess him day by day. Today he was on the training ground running and doing some exercises and we are happy with the way he is now. We'll see, but we hope he'll be available."
The only negative for Spurs on Thursday evening was Dele Alli picking up a yellow card for diving that means he will be suspended for the first leg of the last-16 tie.
"Like you all and the people in the stadium, I thought it wasn't a yellow card," said Pochettino. "I think it was a foul for us. Sometimes the referee can make a mistake but now we will miss him for the first leg.
"But we have a strong team and now it is not important today. We have ahead a lot of games and I think that next week we have three very important games.
"The performance was fantastic and the job was done and now we are in the next round. This was our objective before the game. We fully deserved the result and I'm pleased with the performance and now we need to be ready for Sunday."
