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Mauricio Pochettino 'very pleased' with Tottenham display vs. Fiorentina

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was "very pleased" with his side's display in their Europa League round of 32 win on Thursday, but has quickly turned his focus back on their Premier League title tilt and Sunday's clash with struggling Swansea.

Spurs comfortably beat Fiorentina 3-0 at White Hart Lane to advance to the last 16 of the competition. Strikes from Ryan Mason, Eric Lamela and a Gonzalo Rodriguez own goal did the damage om the night, and the Argentine coach hailed his team's confident performance afterward.

"I'm very pleased, we showed character and played very well against a team that play very well," Pochettino said.

"We fully deserve the result, happy, I'm very pleased with the performance.

"Now we need to recover because the competition never stops and we need to be ready for the next game because that is on Sunday against Swansea.

"I think we have a big motivation in the Premier League and now we have two competitions. We are in a good position in the table, I think the motivation is fantastic."

Pochettino said he was disappointed star man Alli will be missing for the first leg of their next fixture in the competition, believing his caution was harsh.

However, the Argentinian paid tribute to the young midfielder's more mature performances against Crystal Palace and Fiorentina, after receiving much criticism for an apparent kick on Viola defender Nenad Tomovic in last week's first leg.

"For me it wasn't a yellow card," Pochettino said on BT Sport/ESPN.

"I'm very happy after last week in Florence, he was calm against Crystal Palace and today and was only focused on the play.

"Another good performance from him."

Alli himself was rather more restrained in his reaction, saying: "It's disappointing, you want to play as much as you can, but the great thing about the team this season is we've got great depth.

"It was the ref's decision to give me the yellow card and I've just got to move on with it now and get myself ready for when I'm back."

Tottenham were missing star striker Harry Kane on Thursday due to a broken nose he picked up in the defeat to Palace but Pochettino believes it is vital his side show they are good enough without him.

Pochettino said: "Harry Kane is very important for us but today it was impossible for him to be available.

"We have played enough and we were competitive in every way and after what I have seen today, I am very proud of the players."

Meanwhile, Fiorentina boss Paulo Sousa called the London club "one of the five best teams in Europe" and praised Pochettino's side for its leadership in the match.

"Until 1-0 we were in the game. We knew that this was an important team with great quality, which can withstand high intensity throughout the game.

"After the second goal there was great leadership on their part."

Sousa added: "The boys gave their all against an important team, who I feel at this time to be among the best five in Europe in terms of intensity, technique and tactics.

"We wanted to go on, but unfortunately it was not possible. After 2-0 we fell away. We struggled."