Southampton captain Jose Fonte says focus turns to Tottenham and the return of Mauricio Pochettino after 2-1 defeat at Stoke

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Saturday’s defeat at the Britannia Stadium came as an enormous blow to the club’s Champions League hopes.

But they can take another big step towards Europa League qualification if they can beat top-six rivals Tottenham at St Mary’s next weekend.

Mauricio Pochettino is heading back to St Mary's for the first time since walking out on the club

“We need to move on, because the next one will be a big one,” said Fonte, who doesn’t believe the players will need any picking up for it.

“It’s a massive game. I don’t think we need to bring the spirits up, because just a game for itself it’s a massive game.

“We know what’s at stake, so we will forget this game and concentrate on the next one.”

Fonte insists, however, that the return of Spurs boss Pochettino to St Mary’s, after walking out on Saints last summer, doesn’t add any extra motivation for the players.

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“No, it’s because it’s Tottenham,” said the team captain.

“They are close in the table and we want to finish above them.

“We are home. Obviously, there’s that added bit that Pochettino is coming back, but for us players it’s just another big game against a team that is next to us that we want to beat.”

Fonte added: “We don’t need any extra motivation.

“The game itself is going to be a massive one, and we want to put this one right.”

A win for Saints would have given them renewed hope in the fight for the top four, with none of the sides around them having played on Saturday, so Fonte was particularly frustrated with the result.

“That’s why we’re kicking ourselves,” he said.

“That’s why we came into the half-time talking and we did the job in the first half, but we knew they would try something different in the second, and they started with a lucky ball, and that gave them a little bit of a lift.

“Obviously, when you start the second half and you concede so early it’s difficult, but still we got the chance to go in front again and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to take it.”

“This is life. We wasn’t expecting to lose, but we need to pick ourselves up because there’s still five games to go, so we still have a lot to play for – you know, beat some records.

“Like I said, there’s a lot to play for and we need to keep going, keep digging, because the Premier League is unpredictable and you never know.”

As for whether the top four is still possible, Fonte said: “We know it’s difficult.

“Obviously, it’s a very difficult task, but while it’s still mathematically possible we need to keep fighting and trying to win games.”

The Portugal international added: “We know what the expectations were in the beginning of the season, we are happy with the season that we had, but we want to finish on a high.

“Now that we are in this position we need to keep fighting to achieve the highest possible position.”