Spurs dealt a blow ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Real Madrid, as Ben Davies looks unlikely to feature due to illness

Mauricio Pochettino hailed Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris as unbelievable after his saves helped Tottenham Hotspur defeat AFC Bournemouth 1-0 in the Premier League this afternoon.

The France captain made a stunning low stop in the first half with the score goalless to deny his own team-mate Eric Dier from close range.

It allowed Christian Eriksen to open the scoring in the 47th minute and put Spurs on the verge of their first home league win of the season at Wembley.

But Tottenham needed their captain to come up trumps again 12 minutes from time to deny Cherries substitute Jermain Defoe from a tight angle.

Pochettino said: “It is always so important for us to win the three points. It wasn’t a great performance, but it was enough to win and we were better than Bournemouth.

“The first half it was so difficult. They played very deep and we tried to find the space, but we made some mistakes in our positional game. We had a lot of possession, but you could feel it was difficult to break them down.

“Second half we changed our set-up a little bit in possession and we started to move the ball quicker and have more possibility to create the space and then move forward and create chances.

“I thought the second half performance was good and we created enough chances to win, but in this type of game sometimes you can concede some chances on the counter-attack.

“We were lucky because Hugo was unbelievable in two actions. You always need some luck and then to play well, but I think we deserved the victory.”

Tottenham’s victory at Wembley was their first in the Premier League under the arch this season.

It keeps them in third position heading into Tuesday’s mouth-watering Champions League tie away at Real Madrid.

Spurs, it appears, have defensive problems, however, with Pochettino revealing Ben Davies is not set to be involved due to the illness, which kept him out of today’s match.

He added: “It will be difficult. I don’t believe (he will be back). I hope as soon as possible he can be involved again. It is true we need to assess him, but I am not positive too much. I hope I am wrong and he can train tomorrow.”

Pochettino may also be without Georges-Kevin Nkoudou after he suffered a head injury in stoppage time at Wembley.

“Nkoudou knocked his head on the floor, so we need to assess him,” said Tottenham’s manager. “He was a little bit dizzy, but we hope he starts to feel better and can train tomorrow.”

The absence of Davies will be a blow, but Spurs at least travel to Spain with plenty of confidence after another triumph.

Tottenham have not lost since August 20 – winning seven of their nine matches in all competitions following the 2-1 loss at Wembley to Chelsea.

But to achieve a positive result at Real Madrid on Tuesday, Pochettino’s team will have to find another level compared to what they displayed this afternoon.