Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has rejected suggestions that his side do not have enough of a winning mentality to compete for trophies.
Saturday's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea means that Tottenham's only hope of scooping a first piece of silverware for nine years now rests on bridging the four-point gap to Antonio Conte's side in the Premier League.
Spurs have made clear progress since Pochettino's arrival at the club, but questions have been raised regarding whether they have what it takes to make the next step up and begin marking their development with silverware.
"I have no doubt [about the team's winning mentality]. It's important to have memory. The first season we arrived we got 35 players and we started to rebuild the team during the season. Not to arrive, sign 10 players, put out another 12," Pochettino told reporters.
"We start to compete in the last two seasons. Last season we finished third, the best place in the Premier League for Tottenham, now we are second and fighting with the big sides with a completely different project.
"The mentality is fantastic - to win always. But when you compete with Chelsea, Man United, Man City, Liverpool - come on. The players deserve full credit and (you should) remove that idea because it's not true. They are winners. Another thing is to win titles, but they are winners."
Spurs take on in-form Crystal Palace on Wednesday looking to make it eight Premier League wins on the bounce.
Barney Corkhill
