Tottenham will not take Sunderland lightly says Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham will treat Saturday's rivals Sunderland with just as much care as any other Premier League opponent.

Spurs go into the game on the back of only their third league defeat of the season, a 1-0 reverse at the hands of high-flying Leicester.

Sunderland are a much different side than the one Pochettino last faced in September, when Spurs came away from the Stadium of Light with a 1-0 win, as they now have Sam Allardyce in charge and have climbed to 18th in the table after wins over Aston Villa and Swansea City.

"He has time to improve in the way he wants to play, it was a long time ago that we played at Sunderland," Pochettino said. 

 "All the teams Allardyce has managed are very tough. You need to be careful with all the opponents. We will expect another tough game against Sunderland."

Tottenham's midweek defeat stalled their growing momentum as title challengers and Pochettino recognises his players need to regroup to maintain their progress.

"We need to improve in all areas and all aspects," he said.

"For me football is about a lot of things, not only one, because it's a collective effort, collective game. It's impossible to speak of only one thing."

Pochettino is also well aware of the threat former Spur Jermain Defoe can pose, the 33-year-old having scored five of Sunderland's seven goals in their two recent wins.

"A great player, a top goalscorer. His quality is great. It's not new for us," Pochettino added.