Mauricio Pochettino full of praise for Tottenham Hotspur "heroes"

Mauricio Pochettino has described his Tottenham Hotspur players as "heroes" after Sunday's goalless draw with Chelsea at White Hart Lane.

Spurs made the 12-hour round trip to Azerbaijan for their Europa League win over Qarabag FK on Thursday night and Pochettino recently criticised the 12pm kickoff time for the clash with Chelsea.

A difficult schedule was not enough to prevent Spurs from extending their unbeaten Premier League run to 13 games, and the performance delighted the Argentine coach.

"It's always difficult to play against Chelsea and after travelling back from Azerbaijan it was an even tougher game but I think we can be pleased with the performance and the maturity we showed as a team," Pochettino told the club's website. "The effort was unbelievable and for me, they are all heroes.

"We deserved more but at the end we have to be happy with the effort, we created more chances than Chelsea - I think they had one shot on target - and we can feel proud of the performance."

The draw leaves Spurs fifth, four points behind leaders Manchester City.