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Mauricio Pochettino targets Tottenham titles but urges patience

Mauricio Pochettino is targeting trophies with Tottenham Hotspur but has urged supporters to be patient, warning it will take time.

Pochettino celebrated his 100th league match in charge with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday as Spurs remained nine points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

Tottenham have not won a major trophy since the 2008 League Cup, but Pochettino has turned them into title contenders since arriving from Southampton in May 2014.

Asked what he wanted to achieve by the end of his next 100 games, he said: "I'd like to have won a few trophies. That would be perfect, but we can't get ahead of ourselves.

"We need to be patient. We need time to try to create a strong team, a strong club, a strong mentality, a winning mentality.

"We need to finish the new stadium. At that point we will be ready to fight like now, but with more tools, and to be one of the best teams in the world."

Spurs have an FA Cup fifth-round match at Fulham sandwiched between a two-legged Europa League tie against Belgian club AA Gent next month.

And Pochettino said: "We need to be focused on every competition, to try to go as far as possible.

"We need to try to win the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Europa League -- that has to be our focus."

The Tottenham boss added that he felt Chelsea's lack of European football this season had given them the edge in the title race.

"They have a very good team, very good players, a great manager," he said.

"When you are focused only on the Premier League, you are not focused or involved in different cups, or not involved in Europa League competitions... with the squad they have, they don't surprise me."

Meanwhile, Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld said: "We just take it game by game. If we win, it puts pressure on them above us. If Chelsea don't drop points, it makes it difficult for us. We have to concentrate on our own game."