Mauricio Pochettino silent on Danny Rose penalty claim but admits Tottenham concern

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino refused to discuss the Danny Rose penalty incident after his side fell to defeat to Leicester City.

Stunning first-half goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez saw Leicester take a 2-0 lead at the King Power Stadium at half-time on Tuesday (28 November) but were made to weather the storm as Spurs fought back in the second-half. Harry Kane pulled one back after 79 minutes, lashing one into the roof of the net after being played through by Erik Lamela, who was making his first appearance for the club in over 13 months.

In the final 10 minutes, Spurs pushed for an equaliser with Fernando Llorente missing the best of a host of chances created. Deep into injury time, Rose surged into the Leicester box before going down under a challenge from Wilfred Ndidi, only for referee Anthony Taylor to wave play on with the home side passing up a wonderful chance of their own to kill the game off on the counter attack.

Speaking to Match of the Day post-match however, Pochettino was keen to move on quickly from the incident. "I don't know. I said last week I don't want to speak anymore about the decision of the referee."

Tuesday's defeat marks the third match in a row where they have conceded the first goal and while they were able to come back and snatch victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, last Saturday's draw at home to West Brom and defeat to Leicester has now seen them drop out of the top four.

Pochettino admits it has become a growing worry to see his side lose early goals and insists it is now vital his side find a way to curb that trend sooner rather than later.

"We did not play in the way we normally play. The first half was a poor performance and it was difficult after that to get back into the game.

"We feel very disappointed in our performance. We started the game not in the right way and we conceded the opportunity to them to score. At 2-0 down it is difficult. We need to improve the way we start. It happened against West Brom and Borussia Dortmund."