BEAT THE CLOCK

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino says it will only take a minute to tell if they can beat Gent

Poch puts the clock on Tottenham as they bid to overhaul a 1-0 first leg Europa League deficit at Wembley

FORGET Gone In 60 Seconds — boss Mauricio Pochettino reckons he will only need 50 to tell if his Tottenham team will stay in Europe on Thursday night.

Spurs face a tricky trip around the North Circular to host Gent in the second leg of their Europa League last-32 clash at Wembley.

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Heung-Min Son leads from the front as Tottenham limber up for WembleyCredit: Getty Images

The north Londoners must overturn a 1-0 deficit after stinking the place out in Belgium last week.


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The shock defeat surprised many but not Poch, who revealed he knows within a minute of kick-off if his Jekyll and Hyde stars are on their game.

He said: “When we start a game, even if you only watch 50 seconds, you don’t have to be a genius to see we may struggle and will have some problems.

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“That’s what happened in the first leg, we weren’t focused.

“At that precise moment it was too difficult to change, so we changed the formation at half- time to try to lift them but it was impossible.

Harry Kane twists and turns at the Tottenham training campCredit: PA:Press Association
All together now...Spurs players hop to itCredit: Getty Images
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Under full control...Eric Dier is put through his pacesCredit: PA:Press Association

“The problem is, when you start not in a good way, it’s too difficult to change that perception.

“You give a very good signal to the opponent that you are not focused. You need to change that mentality. But, of course, you can detect it very early in a game.”

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Spurs’ Belgian midfielder Mousa Dembele claimed he felt his team underestimated Gent.

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Pochettino said: “They did not surprise me last week.

“We were poor, they were better than us and for that they won.

“They did not surprise me because we watched many of their games and knew their quality.

Catch me if you can...Jan Vertonghen in full flowCredit: Getty Images
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Boss Maurico Pochettino talks to his lieutenantsCredit: Reuters

“What surprised me was our performance — not their performance.

“We are more aware of how they play and it’s up to us to show we deserve to go to the next round.

“We need to be patient. That will be the key, to be aggressive and patient.”

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Heads I win...Kane takes offCredit: PA:Press Association
Gent players go through their warm-up routineCredit: Getty Images

The clash is a 90,000 sell-out at Wembley, where a 1-0 victory after extra-time for Spurs will see the tie decided by penalties.

But Pochettino revealed his men have not been practising them.

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He added: “You can shoot 100 penalties here at the training ground and score them all.

“But when you take the ball in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley, you will start to shake.”

TOTTENHAM: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier, Wanyama, Eriksen, Alli, Dembele, Kane.

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