Pochettino was in charge of Tottenham between 2014 and 2019, a period in which they reached the Champions League final and mounted a couple of genuine title challenges.

Tonight, he and his coaching staff will be in the away dugout, targeting a Chelsea victory. Pochettino explained he will not let his history affect his demeanour, nor his dealings with both sets of clubs’ supporters.

‘I don’t believe we need to show something special,’ said Pochettino. ‘‘We need to be natural, that’s the most important thing.

‘You cannot underestimate the Tottenham and Chelsea fans. I don’t want to be a hypocrite and say something I don’t feel, or I’m in the process of creating. People are clever. Chelsea fans know I was Tottenham, they know about the Champions League, they know about the Battle of the Bridge. It’s impossible to hide this emotion. Now I cannot say I forget all those things. That would be stupid.

‘I’m going to be natural. I hope to enjoy to a great game, I want to win, that is our competitive side, and at the same time I want to enjoy being in a place that I was part of the process of building something special. That’s it. I am really calm, and I want to enjoy it, and I hope for a good night for us.’

On the pitch Pochettino is expecting a more open game than last weekend’s loss to Brentford. The Bees sat deep, soaked up pressure and stung us with a pair of second-half goals.

On the flip side, two of our best performances this season came against Liverpool and Arsenal, who like Tottenham are in the top four. Pochettino thinks a more attacking opponent could suit us.

‘When we play against blocks that play so low, we struggle to find and to understand a little bit the positional game and movement. When we have space, we can perform better and create more chances.

‘You need to have the capacity to be mature. We are talking about a young team who need to grow. You need to be patient. You have to understand the time in the game: when you need to attack, when you need to keep calm and keep possession and circulate the ball.

‘These are all things that come with time. At the moment we don’t have time. That’s why we struggle with blocks that play so low. We start to rush decisions, and make mistakes, and not be in positions where we should be. We lost the Nottingham Forest, Villa and Brentford games in transition.

‘At 0-0, we need to not lose patience, and keep believing for sure we are going to score. That hasn’t happened. For us that’s why it is better when we play a team that is going to attack you, and also give you space to run.’