Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino praised Spurs supporters for their support after receiving a number of boos from Southampton fans.

The former Saints boss was back at St Marys for the first time since taking over at White Hart Lane and saw his side battle back from 1-0 down and 2-1 down to draw 2-2 with goals from Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli.

Mr Pochettino said: “It is not easy being down twice and we showed big character and overall it was a good result for both teams.

“I am happy with the reaction from my fans, they showed great support.”

The Argentine emerged from his technical area to kick the ball back to Nathanial Clyne and was met with his first chorus of abuse and received regular chants against him.

However, the Spurs boss said he was “focussed on his job” as he applauded the Spurs faithful at the full time whistle.

He said: “I think that I was focussed on my job. We have a lot of people who love us here and I will always love Southampton and I understand that this is football and it is normal for fans to support their manager.”

Now six points behind fourth placed Manchester City having played a game less, the Spurs manager believes it will be tough to finish in the Champions League  places this season and branded it “tough” to manage both Europa League and Premier League exploits.

He said: “My dream is manage Tottenham in the Champions League, we need to build a strong team over the summer and fight next season. I think it is very tough to manage the two.

Premier League is a most difficult league to play in the world. If we reach the europa league we need to try and do better next season and I would rather play in the Champions League.”

Eric Dier supplied both goals for Spurs and Pochettino praised the England U21’s performance.

He said: “Yes I think he had a good performance, it is not his best position on the pitch but today he was very good.”