Thursday 12 January 2017 16:30, UK
Mauricio Pochettino wants Tottenham to put pressure on Premier League-leaders Chelsea when they play ahead of them on Saturday.
After beating their London rivals last time out, cutting the Blues' lead to five points, Spurs can move second and slice it down to two with a win over West Brom, live on Sky Sports 1HD on Saturday lunchtime.
Chelsea do not play until Saturday evening at Leicester, who enjoyed the benefits of playing before Pochettino's side on multiple weekends as they battled for the title last season.
Pochettino said: “I think that, when you play first before the other team, always it’s a good time to apply pressure.
"We felt that against us last season. We always played after Leicester. It’s true that we are in a different period. It’s a long, long way until the end of the season. It’s not decisive to play before or after (at the moment).
"But at the end of the season it is. At the end of the season I prefer to play before."
Tottenham's last victory over a top-four rival was against Manchester City in October but it was succeeded by a poor run of four Premier League games without a win.
Pochettino insists his side must react better this time and maintain the momentum generated from five straight wins, stating: "Now it's a moment to show we learned.
"We have a very tough game in front and we need to show that we learned from a few months ago. If you remember, we dropped our performance a bit after a fantastic victory.
"After Chelsea it's a great opportunity to show that we deserve it and to keep our momentum is key. Today it's about maturity and learning from this period. It doesn't mean that we will win every game. It's important to show that maturity we did against Chelsea, that is important for trying to be more realistic and fighting for a bigger objective."
