Spurs boss Pochettino bemoans dropped points at Everton

Tottenham hit the woodwork either side of that, Harry Kane being denied by the post and Ben Davies by the bar, before Dele Alli notched a fine volley in first-half stoppage time to bring things level.

The game was more even after the break, with neither team able to seize the victory.

And Pochettino, whose men had won their previous three Premier League matches, said: “We dropped two points. “The first half I think was fantastic, one of our best performances so far. In the second half we managed the game until around 75 minutes, when I think Everton increased their level.

“I think we need to feel proud, and our performance was really good – but we are disappointed with the final result.”

Tottenham, now six points behind league leaders Arsenal in fourth place, were being talked up as possible title contenders in the build-up to the game.

And when asked afterwards how he saw his team’s chances in that respect, Pochettino said: “It is too early to speak about some challenge or achievements at the end of the season. I think the way we are, all can happen.

“We believe in the way we play, we are very ambitious and the players are very disappointed in the changing room. Always at the end of the game we play some music but today we (did not, because we) are very disappointed, because the feeling is that we dropped two points.

“Maybe tomorrow we will analyse the game and say we need to be happy for the point, but today our feeling is we dropped two – and this is a very good sign for the future. “We are the youngest squad in the Premier League but we are showing our winning mentality.”

#THFC should be more than pleased with 10/12pts and an undefeated record over Christmas and New Year – massive achievement for Pochettino.

— Raj Bains (@BainsXIII) January 3, 2016

Tottenham looked full of confidence from the off, applying plenty of early pressure, and they were inches away from going in front in the ninth minute when Kane’s low, drilled effort from outside the box came back off the inside of the post.

Everton were struggling to get hold of the ball, let alone do anything with it, but then produced a moment of quality to suddenly snatch the lead. Tom Cleverley collected the ball from Leighton Baines’ backheel and lofted in into the area, where Romelu Lukaku nodded it down and Lennon took one touch before lashing it into the net, registering his first goal of the season on only his fourth league start.

Tottenham were soon threatening again and around the halfhour mark they rattled the goal-frame again, Davies’ strike cracking against the bar.

The leveller that was the least Spurs deserved arrived in the final moments of the half, and was another finely-crafted effort involving an excellent long-distance pass.

Toby Alderweireld was the man to deliver it this time, sweeping the ball forward from inside his own half, and Alli did superbly to control with his chest and hook past Tim Howard.

Pochettino admits the England international, signed from MK Dons last year, needs to be handled with care.

“I think the goal was fantastic, a great goal,” he said. “From the beginning we have had to take care of him. We need to be careful. That is important when they are young, to handle them in a good way.”

While Tottenham are three points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United, Everton are six points adrift of the Red Devils in 11th and struggling for results but this was improvement.

Everton boss Roberto Martinez said: “I thought throughout the game we had a very, very good performance. We have been conceding goals cheaply at home and it was something we had to rectify. Today’s performance showed we are ready to be stronger defensively.”