Spurs' Pochettino on Dean row: Maybe cables crossed in my brain

Mauricio Pochettino accepted he lost control in angrily confronting referee Mike Dean after Tottenham's 2-1 Premier League defeat at Burnley.

Ashley Barnes struck with seven minutes to go at Turf Moor on Saturday, ending a four-game winning streak for Spurs that had pushed them back into the title race.

Spurs would have closed to within two points of leaders Manchester City and Liverpool with victory but, despite Harry Kane's goalscoring return, they were downed by Sean Dyche's side.

"We made mistakes on the pitch and I made a mistake after"

Pochettino was seemingly unhappy with the decision to award the corner from which Chris Wood opened the scoring for Burnley and he was riled at the full-time whistle, marching onto the pitch to speak to Dean.

The Spurs manager was held back and led away after appearing to react angrily to something said by Dean, but he would not give any details on the flashpoint at a post-match news conference.

"We made mistakes on the pitch and I made a mistake after. Maybe I needed to go straight away to my dressing room and get some water and be a little bit relaxed," Pochettino said.

"I'm not going to talk too much. If we need to justify our defeat it’s to see inside ourselves and that is the reason why we lost the game."

"It's weird, maybe the cables crossed in my brain. I was always under control but what happened there, happened on the pitch. I need to find the reason now that we lost the game, not to find some excuse.

"The first person I have to blame is myself. I said we needed to put pressure on our opponent. In the end we wanted to win and it was because of the emotion."

"For me this was the big game", rues Tottenham boss

Spurs will now find themselves eight points behind Liverpool if Jürgen Klopp's side can win at Manchester United on Sunday.

And Pochettino accepts it may now not matter if Spurs win their next two league matches against Chelsea and Arsenal.

"For me this was the big game," he added. "Maybe we end up winning at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal but, if you want to make history, this type of game you must win.

"It’s not about tactics [or] selection; it's about fighting and dominating in all aspects. Burnley were stronger than us and that disappointed me.

"Massive disappointment and we need to get ready for another battle.

"It was never under control, the game, and then we conceded. We scored and then we conceded. We created some more chances than Burnley but it was not enough. We need to find more."