Mauricio Pochettino didn't take the League Cup seriously at Saints last season – but he is now targeting glory in the competition with Tottenham.

Pochettino’s Spurs booked a quarter final home tie with Newcastle after beating Brighton 2-0 at White Hart Lane last night.

Pochettino made 10 changes to his side, compared to the three that his St Mary’s successor Ronald Koeman made for Saints’ victory at Stoke.

“It's realistic,” he said of ambitions to win the tournament.

“We are in the quarter-finals. All potential trophies are realistic.

“We are in the Capital One and the Europa League and we are happy.

“It was a good performance. We created a lot of chances and played very well. I'm happy for the players because they needed the victory. All players played well.”

Pochettino insisted Harry Kane must remain patient despite the striker scoring again last night.

The 21-year-old – linked with Saints earlier in the week – now has seven goals for the season but has yet to be handed a start in the Premier League despite outscoring both Emmanuel Adebyaor and Roberto Soldado in all competitions.

Kane struck Tottenham's second goal in a routine 2-0 victory over the Seagulls after substitute Erik Lamela opened the scoring nine minutes after coming off the bench at the interval.

The goal for Kane, who will also have one eye on Roy Hodgson's next England squad, will not guarantee him a start for the trip to Aston Villa on Sunday as he was dropped for the defeat to Newcastle having bagged a Europa League hat-trick three days before.

And Pochettino is keen to keep his options open in attack, despite a clamour for Kane to be given a prolonged run in the side.

“He shares with another striker like Adebayor or Soldado the minutes in the official games,” the Argentinian said.

“We need to understand that we are in different competitions. You demand me to play Harry Kane in every game - he played today. Soldado and Harry Kane are different players. We are in a lot of competitions.”