LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur have not deteriorated compared to last season, manager Mauricio Pochettino said as he backed his team to come back stronger from their current poor run in the Premier League. Spurs are sixth in the table, 18 points adrift of league leaders Manchester City after losing four of their 15 games this season, the same as the entire last campaign when they finished second, and are winless in their last four matches. Despite their poor domestic form, Tottenham have improved on last season's Champions League showing, progressing to the knockout stages as group winners and Pochettino believes City's form rather than Spurs' decline had opened the gap between them. "We have maybe three points less than this time last season, and we've finished top of our Champions League group," Pochettino told British media. "Manchester City have created a gap, but I'm sure the team will improve and take many lessons from this run." Non-Surgical hair growth treatment at Dr. Tvacha Clinic Dr Tvacha Miss World '10 days' hair oil - New hair growth for sure! Rathira Ayurveda Pvt Ltd Recommended By Colombia Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier and Juan Foyth are the north London side's only options for central defence when they host Stoke City next weekend after fellow centre-back Davinson Sanchez was sent off in last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Watford. Defender Toby Alderweireld also said that he had no fixed return date from a hamstring injury sustained in last month's home Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund as he awaits a scan in two weeks' time to assess the damage. "I have a serious muscle tear. There's a big chance of recurrence," Alderweireld told Belgian media. If the muscle tears off completely, for instance, I would need surgery and it'll take 14 weeks to recover. That's why we try to see how we can treat the muscle. In two weeks there's a scan to see how it goes. I can only try to be on the pitch as fast as possible." Tottenham host APOEL Nicosia in their final Champions League group game on Wednesday before hosting 13th-placed Stoke on Saturday.

MANCHESTER: Raheem Sterling's latest late goal kept Manchester City well in front at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at home to Southampton on Wednesday. It had looked as if what became City's 12th successive league victory would end in a draw after Southampton's Oriol Romeu cancelled out a goal scored by Kevin De Bruyne early in the second half. But for the third match in a row Sterling grabbed a late goal - but this was later and arguably better than the others. In the 96th minute, De Bruyne's short pass found Sterling, who curled a brilliant shot into the top right-hand corner of the goal from the edge of the area -- following similar late winners against Feyenoord and Huddersfield in the past week. The goal sparked incredible scenes of celebration on the Etihad Stadium pitch, with City manager Pep Guardiola sprinting into the middle of the field and, after the final whistle seconds later, engaging in an angry exchange of words with Southampton's Nathan Redmond. Victory left City eight points in front of second-placed Manchester United after 14 matches of the season. City had responded impressively after a lacklustre first half, one which presumably would have displeased the demanding Guardiola. Within 80 seconds of the restart, City were ahead from a De Bruyne free-kick, wide on the left, which was so brilliantly struck it appeared to evade all other attempts to get a touch. City, however, were stunned 15 minutes from time when Fabian Delph failed to deal with Ryan Bertrand's centre and substitute Sofiane Boufal pulled the ball back for Romeu to convert clinically from 10 yards. For all their dominance in practically every game so far this season, City could easily have found themselves a goal down to Mauricio Pellegrino's side in what was, by their standards, a poor first half.