Tottenham 'heroes' have earned a few days off, says Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino will reward Tottenham’s players with some time off after they put one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Spurs produced a superb second-half display at Wembley on Wednesday evening to build a commanding 3-0 lead ahead of their last-16 second leg with Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund.

The north London club, who travel to Germany for the return match early next month, do not have a fixture until February 23 having been knocked out of the FA Cup.

Manager Pochettino intends to use the break to go abroad, while his squad will also be given time away from football after he described them as “heroes”.

“The players deserve all the credit because they were fantastic. They win the possibility to have a few days off,” he said.

“I cannot tell you (my plans) but I am going to be out of England.”

He added: “With all the circumstances we have, the team is fighting, the team is getting results. I feel so proud for that. My players are heroes.”

Spurs were once again without injured England duo Harry Kane and Dele Alli for the Dortmund clash and recovered from a below-par first-half performance to run out resounding winners.

Second-half strikes from Son Heung-min, Jan Vertonghen and substitute Fernando Llorente did the damage.

Despite the healthy advantage going into the second leg on March 5 at Westfalenstadion, Pochettino also warned that progression is far from assured.

“It’s only the first leg, it’s only the first half of the tie – 3-0 is a very good result but when you have a team like Borussia Dortmund, always you need to respect and we need to think that we need to go to Dortmund with the idea to win,” said the Argentinian.

“We are happy now but still a lot of work to do.”

Dortmund have now gone four games without victory in all competitions, although they remain five points clear of German champions Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Head coach Lucien Favre insists he is not overly concerned by the club’s recent form.

“I haven’t got any particular worries,” he said.

“You have phases like that when it’s difficult and things don’t run as they should do.”