Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham's win at Stoke was 'tougher' than victory at Chelsea

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino insists it was tougher for Tottenham to win at Stoke than it was to win at Chelsea last week.

Spurs ended a 28-year hoodoo last weekend when they won 3-1 at Chelsea and they followed that with a determined 2-1 win at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Tottenham manager Pochettino said on Friday that he expected a harder game this weekend and he said that's exactly what they got against a Stoke team which is now four points adrift of safety.

"It was so tough," he told Sky Sports at full-time.

"I told you in my press conference yesterday that it should be a more difficult game than against Chelsea because to match the hunger and motivation of Stoke and play in a difficult atmosphere is always tough.

"That's what happened during the game. It was a tougher game, but I think we deserved the victory.

"We were better, but we suffered a lot. We fought a lot to get the three points."

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Christian Eriksen opened the scoring in the second half and then earned the three points with a free-kick after Mame Biram Douf had equalised for Stoke.

The result sees Tottenham remain in fourth position, but they moved level on points with Liverpool with a game in hand and are 11 clear of Chelsea.

And Pochettino, who was taking charge of his 200th Premier League game, explained he was thrilled by the attitude of his players.

"I think the performance was very professional," he added.

"It wasn't fantastic like against Chelsea but I think the performance was professional.

"I am so happy because the three points puts us in a very good position in the table in the race for the top four.

"We have the same points as Liverpool with one game less, so we are optimistic for the future."

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