Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says he's facing the toughest challenge of his career.

Mourinho admits his appointment as Spurs boss in November has been dogged by bad luck and problems from the outset.

He said: “Look, if you want to know what I wanted to do here, look to my first game — against West Ham.

“That's the way I thought I was going to develop the team.

“Defend with a back four, attack with a back three.

“But that was the first day of unlucky, goodbye Ben Davies. I think everything started with Hugo. You lose your captain for so long and then, in my case, I lose Ben when I felt I had something in here."

Asked if this is his toughest job since the Portuguese club, Mourinho said: “It is the second time I get a team mid-season, just the second time.

“The first time was also not easy because it was the end of a team, the end of an era. It was an era without titles.

“Porto was not winning but it was the end of... I don't want to say of a generation but it was the end of a team in the end of a season.

“Twelve players out, twelve players in, start everything from the beginning. Forget the good things of the past, forget the bad things of the past and let's build from new.

“That is my experience in Porto coming in the middle of the season."