Mauricio Pochettino: 'Tottenham Hotspur showed character against Fiorentina'

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino has expressed his delight at his side's character during tonight's Europa League last-32 victory over Fiorentina.

Spurs went out at the same stage of last year's competition to the Italian side, but never looked in trouble tonight as they won 3-0 at White Hart Lane after a 1-1 draw in Florence a week ago.

"I'm happy with the effort [of the players]," Pochettino told BT Sport. "The players were fantastic and now we need to recover our energy for Sunday's match against Swansea.

"We showed character and played very well."

One negative on the night was Dele Alli getting booked for the second time in the tie, so he will have to miss the first leg of Spurs' last-16 tie next month.

"For me it wasn't a yellow card," Pochettino added. "He was calm against Crystal Palace [on Sunday in the FA Cup] and today and it was another good performance from him and the team."

Heading into the final three months of the season, Spurs are through to the Europa League last 16 and second in the Premier League, just two points behind Leicester City.