Mauricio Pochettino gives his verdict on Rafa Benitez's Newcastle United

Pochettino, however, admitted that "well-organised" Newcastle United made life hard for his team at Wembley, where Heung-Min Son scored the only goal of the game.

Martin Dubravka fumbled a shot from Son seven minutes from time.

“They fully deserved to score the winning goal," said Pochettino. "Newcastle was a very well organised team, playing deep and not giving us much space.

“We knew it was going to be difficult second-half, because Newcastle grow in belief."

Having seen his team frustrated by Newcastle for 60 minutes, Pochettino sent on Fernando Llorente.

"We tried to play a bit more direct, and it was a fantastic effort to recover and win this game after we beat Watford in midweek," said Tottenham's manager.

“We're in a very good position in the table – I'm very happy and proud.

“We're second, and don’t need to convince ourselves about our potential or capacity to win. We're there because we believe in ourselves. We fight for the challenge.

“Today, I think we're there in second, because we deserve to be there and we will see what happens in the future.

“We have a positive mentality and we're showing a great mentality. Sometimes to win games, you need luck and things, situations to work for you

"The team's in a very great level of belief and character and mentality and we're showing we can win in any stadium, to any club and that is the most important.

“Being in this position, no-one believed this squad was capable of it. We believe and we are there.’’