Mauricio Pochettino has refused to use the exertions of Thursday night’s victory over Anderlecht in the Europa League as an excuse should they lose to Arsenal tomorrow.

Spurs will have a day less to recover after a tough 2-1 victory through goals from Harry Kane and substitute Moussa Dembele.

Tomorrow’s derby will be the third game for the Lillywhites in seven days but the Tottenham manager would not complain about the fixture congestion ahead of the north London derby.

He said: “We won’t complain. I don’t want to put the idea that they have an advantage about the game. But it’s very difficult to play Sunday-Thursday.

“And when you play Monday against a very motivated Aston Villa in which you run and suffer a lot, it’s one day less to recover.

“You are always delayed in preparing for the game. We are a very young squad and sometimes we run a lot but I will not complain. It is not an excuse.

“We are very strong mentally and the way we showed character today and Monday shows we are ready to compete and give 100 per cent to win the game.”

This is the second time the two teams will face each other, with Arsenal winning in the League Cup at White Hart Lane back in September thanks a Mathieu Flamini brace.

But with injuries ravaging the Gunners and after their thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich on Wednesday, Pochettino says that this is a completely different game and recent form goes out the window.

“The derby is a different game,” he said. “You need to play it with your heart and passion. I know what it means to our supporters and the past doesn’t mean anything in this game. We arrive in very good form.

“We will try to win the game because we know what it means in a derby.

“This is a different game. We won’t use that to prepare for Sunday’s game. They will play a different team, it’s a different competition. It is impossible to learn or prepare for the match.”