LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino believes bad luck with injuries is the biggest reason his Tottenham team is not doing even better this season.
Spurs climbed to third after beating Chelsea 2-0 on Wednesday -- their fifth straight league win -- but they still trail the league leaders by seven points, and they crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage.
Chelsea were chasing a record 14th consecutive league win but Spurs outplayed them, and are now much better than the team that won just one in 10 in all competitions following their last standout result -- the 2-0 win over Manchester City on Oct. 2.
Spurs started that slump with a 1-1 draw at West Brom, who they play next in the league, but Pochettino is not worried about a similar run, saying his team are now showing their true form after a spate of injuries.
"If you go back, what happened after Man City, or just before, [is that] we had many problems in the same period. Some injuries -- Toby [Alderweireld], Harry Kane, Dany Rose, Mousa Dembele. In a very key period for us in the Champions League and Premier League, we were in a position where it was difficult to cope with that pressure," Pochettino said.
"We missed, in that rotation, keeping the level and the energy because some players were out. That was very bad luck that in that period we struggled a little bit to cope with different games and different competitions. It was a very busy period if you remember.
"[We had] a lot of draws not only in Premier League but in Champions League too. It was difficult to cope with that level in a key moment. There were many, many, many problems in the team. I think it was key because now we are out of the Champions League.
"It is because maybe we are not top of the table it was because we had a little bit of bad luck in that period so we couldn't keep the level that we were showing before, and are showing now."
Now, Pochettino only has one injured player in Erik Lamela, who has returned to his former club AS Roma for treatment on a persistent hip problem. Lamela has a problem with a small muscle in his hip and his recovery was delayed at the beginning of last month when he returned to Argentina after his brother was severely injured in a swimming accident.
The Argentina international is being treated by Roma's club doctor, who helped treat him for a back injury in his first season at Tottenham too, and he has been accompanied by a member of Spurs' medical team.
"We have nothing to hide," said Pochettino, who expects Lamela back before the end of the season but refused to put a timeframe on his return.
"Only that it was first of all nothing, then a little bit, then that minor problem still every day. Then his brother's problem -- that affected his mind a little bit. It was a really slow recovery. He is very anxious, [saying] 'I need to go' and we thought, OK maybe it is good for you and your mind to change scenery."
Pochettino also said Dele Alli will only get better after the 20-year-old made it seven goals in four matches, and equalled his league tally from last season, with two identical headed goals against Chelsea.
"First of all, he's only been playing in the Premier League for a year-and-a-half. Secondly, he's very young and he can improve all the aspects of his game," Pochettino said.
"But his quality now is to be one of the best in the Premier league, if you imagine he still improves. The players, not only Dele but all [of them], need to have in their mind every day that they can improve. The moment you stop believing that you can improve, you start going down in your level and performance.
"For that, every day we always try to put in his mind that he needs to push, improve, work hard. The level he is showing now is very difficult to maintain. When you show that quality the challenge is to keep that level and improve that level."
Pochettino, whose team host Aston Villa in the FA Cup third-round on Sunday, said he knew nothing about reports that head of recruitment Paul Mitchell could join Nottingham Forest and be replaced by Roma's Walter Sabatini.