Mauricio Pochettino has urged his Tottenham Hotspur side to forget their Capital One Cup final defeat by Chelsea and turn their attention to Wednesday's Barclays Premier League match with Swansea City.
Spurs were beaten 2-0 at Wembley on Sunday by Chelsea, three days after being knocked out of the Uefa Europa League at Fiorentina's hands. It leaves the Barclays Premier League as Spurs' only avenue to European qualification, and they face an in-form Swansea side quickly becoming a rival for a continental berth.
A haul of 10 points from the last 15 available has lifted Garry Monk's side to eighth, four points behind Spurs having played a match more.
However, Pochettino says his side will focus solely on their midweek challenge at White Hart Lane, rather than lofty ambitions of a return to the Uefa Champions League.
"Our challenge is the next game,” the head coach said. “We can't speak about the top four until the end of the season. We will try to get three points against Swansea.
"We need to forget about the final and move forward. We need to recover our legs and our minds because it's tough, but it's more positive than negative.
"It's important to play finals. It was a good experience for me but I need to improve. I think you can always improve."
A late Christian Eriksen strike handed Spurs the points at the Liberty Stadium in December's reverse fixture, with Monk's side having lost just three league matches since that defeat.
Victory on Wednesday would move Monk's side to within a point of Spurs and bolster Swansea's hopes of a return to the Europa League. With the Welsh club seven points away from equalling their record Barclays Premier League tally of 47, Monk says confidence is high among his squad.
"We are confident - that's what victories do for you but we are aware that we are playing a very good side," said Monk, who could welcome back Gylfi Sigurdsson into his matchday squad after a hamstring problem. "They lost the final and they will want to bounce back as soon as possible.
“I would love to think it has dented their confidence but the top teams bring a good reaction and we will be preparing for the best Tottenham can give.
"Now we have two wins in a row we want to get a third. Tottenham are a very good team and are doing well in the league, but we want to keep our run going."
Match Facts
Spurs have won all three Barclays Premier League home matches against Swansea, indeed they have beaten Swansea in their last six in the BPL and are unbeaten in seven (W6 D1).
No team has won more BPL matches from losing positions than Spurs this season (five), while no one has lost more from winning positions than Swansea City (four).
Swansea City have failed to score a first-half goal in their last five Barclays Premier League matches on the road, while seven of their last eight goals overall have arrived in the second half.
The Swans have scored exactly one goal in seven of their last eight away from home.
Spurs (from): Friedel, Lloris, Vorm, Chiriches, Davies, Dier, Fazio, Kaboul, Rose, Vertonghen, Walker, Yedlin, Bentaleb, Capoue, Ceballos, Chadli, Dembele, Eriksen, Lamela, Mason, Paulinho, Stambouli, Townsend, Adebayor, Kane, Soldado.
Swansea City (from): Cornell, Fabianski, Tremmel, Amat, Fernandez, Naughton, Rangel, Taylor, Tiendalli, Williams, Britton, Carroll, Cork, Dyer, Fulton, Grimes, Ki, Montero, Routledge, Sheehan, Shelvey, Sigurdsson, Barrow, Emnes, Gomis, Oliveira.
Match Appointments
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: J Collin, I Hussin
Fourth Official: A Madley
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