Pochettino: Lloris injury had 'big impact' on poor Spurs performance at Brighton

Mauricio Pochettino has suggested the serious injury suffered by Hugo Lloris affected his players ‘emotionally’ and contributed to his side’s 3-0 loss against Brighton.

The Tottenham skipper suffered a horrific injury to his left arm landing awkwardly after dropping a cross in just the third minute, allowing Neal Maupay to open the scoring.

Speaking to BT Sport after the match, a downbeat Pochettino admitted his side failed to recover following Lloris’ trauma.

“It had a massive impact,” the Spurs boss admitted. “After three minutes. We’re weren’t capable after that to be in the game.

“I think to concede and to lose our captain had a massive, massive impact emotionally for the team.

“We tried to find solutions and different ways to play but it was impossible.”

The severity of Lloris’ injury is as yet to be confirmed but Pochettino was fearful of the diagnosis for his goalkeeper.

“The news is not good from the hospital, but we need to wait,” he said,

“Through the website they are going to explain the situation properly.

“But of course everyone saw on the pitch when he landed, it was not a good situation and the news is not so good.”

Seagulls teenager Aaron Connolly went on scored either side of half time as Brighton secured a huge win against the north Londoners.

Following that thumping 7-2 Champions League defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, Spurs have now conceded ten goals in a matter of days.

Lloris’ injury caps off a miserable week for the club but Pochettino has urged his players and the Tottenham fans to rally as they look to turn their fortunes around.

“We’re in a very difficult moment but we need to keep going,” he added. “I want to say thanks to the fans, I felt sorry for them. It was a massive effort to come and support us.

“You can’t find words to console them or the players because we are in a tough moment.

“When we were on top we were all together so when these types of moments arrive, we need to stick together.”

Speculation has been rife over Pochettino’s future at the club and the Brighton result is set to raise more questions.

However, Pochettino, who led Spurs to the Champions League final last season, is bullish about getting his team back on track.

“I hope the pressure is on me and allows to players the freedom to recover,” he said. “Now is a moment to be strong, we cannot underestimate this type of situation but in times that aren’t so good, there’s always the possibility to make ourselves stronger.”