Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino praises Heung-min Son for filling Harry Kane void

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has praised Heung-min Son for leading the line in Harry Kane's absence during Sunday's 2-1 victory over Southampton.

Kane faces several week out of the side, having suffered an ankle ligament injury, which paved the way for Son to start against Claude Puel's side.

The South Korean did not manage to find the net, with Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli assuming goalscoring responsibilities, but proved to a diligent runner up front.

Spurs cut Chelsea's lead at the top of the table to 10 points with their latest win at White Hart Lane and Pochettino was delighted to see his side cope without their talisman.

"Always you will miss your main striker but what can we do if he is injured? It was important to keep our position in the table," Pochettino insisted.

"It was good," Pochettino said of Son's display. "He had some chances, great movement in behind and connected with Dele [Alli] and [Christian] Eriksen. I was very, very pleased.

Tottenham's home form has been key to their rise up the table this term, having avoided defeat in N17 for almost a calendar year.

Southampton are the last team to win at White Hart Lane (May 2016) and Pochettino is adamant his players deserve praise after surviving a second-half fightback to tighten their grip on second place.

"The team fully deserves the praise - today was a tough game," said the Argentine coach.

"In the second half maybe we suffered a little bit. But the performance was good and we need to be pleased we kept our position.

"In the first half it was under control. We made a mistake for the goal but that can always happen in football. The victory keeps us in a very good position," Pochettino added.