Mauricio Pochettino refused to criticise his team following a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in Wednesday night's Capital One Cup clash.

Pochettino made a host of changes to his squad for the midweek clash against fierce rivals the Gunners and the decision ultimately backfired as a host of errors from fringe players cost Spurs a potential victory.

Nonetheless, Pochettino has defended his side and has stated that he is taking a lot of positives from the third round meeting.

The Argentine manager said: "I don't regret (my selections) - you can make mistakes, remember when (Diego) Maradona missed a penalty? These are big players but this can happen, they are not machines.

"We need to take a lot of positive things. Yes, our supporters and us will feel very bad, when you play against your sporting enemy you want to win more, but this is football.

"We need to be happy in the way we played and disappointed with the way we lost the game, but now we need to prepare for the game on Saturday against Manchester City, when we will have one day less to prepare."