Mauricio Pochettino braced for 'emotional' Southampton return

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that Saturday's visit to former club Southampton will be an "emotional game" for him.

Pochettino will return to St Mary's for the first time since swapping them for the Lilywhites last summer.

He spent 18 months with the South Coast club in what he remembers as a "fantastic period", but the Argentine insists that the match tomorrow is not about him.

When asked how he will feel before kickoff, he told Spurs' official website: "It's difficult to know at the moment.

"It's true I'm an emotional person and it's an emotional game because we spent one-and-a-half-years at Southampton and it was a fantastic period.

"However, the most important thing is the match and what happens on the pitch."

Victory for the Saints would see Ronald Koeman's side leapfrog Tottenham into sixth in the Premier League table.