Tottenham news: Mauricio Pochettino reveals why he celebrated more than usual after win over Watford

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino admits he never celebrates as wildly as he did for Fernando Llorente’s late winner in the 2-1 victory over Watford on Wednesday night.

Llorente atoned for a shocking miss by heading home an 87th minute winner, after Heung-min Son cancelled out Craig Cathcart’s first-half opener for Watford.

Spurs were heading for a third consecutive Premier League defeat at Wembley, but after a dramatic final ten minutes, things look considerably rosier with other results also going their way.

And Pochettino revealed his overwhelming joy for both his team and under-fire striker Llorente, who has had a tough time replacing the injured Harry Kane.

“I was so happy. Normally I never celebrate goals but today I felt a bit of freedom to celebrate because we deserved to win,” he said.

“I am so happy because Fernando worked so hard, working the last four games with Harry Kane out, he’s working so hard for the team, to help the team to win three points today is a massive thing.

“Always it builds the confidence in a striker and more when you are competing with Harry Kane, or behind Harry Kane, one of the best strikers in the world, always it’s difficult.

“Always you need time. But in all this time he’s been a fantastic professional and always was pushing and helping the team.”

Suddenly, Tottenham have the chance to overtake Manchester City and go second by beating Newcastle at lunchtime on Saturday.

And Pochettino admits Spurs needed a lift after exiting two cup competitions in the space of three days last week.

“With all the circumstances I think finishing in that way after 90 minutes is a fantastic way to end that negativity that was around in the last few days,” he said.

“How it changes things when you get a victory like today, you are for sure more optimistic and people see things differently to yesterday.”

Son helped ease Pochettino’s injury crisis after his early return from international duty at the Asia Cup, and the South Korean showed Spurs exactly what they have been missing in recent weeks.

However, the Tottenham manager did not intend to keep the forward on the pitch for so long.

He added: “It wasn’t the plan to play with him for the full 90 minutes but how the result was, you know in that moment I talked with Jesus [Perez] and I said maybe we need to take a little bit of a risk to keep him playing.

“He finished very tired, with some cramp. We’re going to see if he can recover for the next game, if he’s OK maybe he’s going to be in the starting eleven, if not on the bench.

“For sure if we need him, he’s going to help the team. That’s one circumstance more.”