The Blues scored a trio of fantastic goals, displaying a clinical edge that has been somewhat lacking in recent away games.

Luton sent in 36 crosses and until the final 10 minutes we dealt with them admirably, but two late goals set up a grandstand finale. The Blues weathered the storm to make it back-to-back wins, and Pochettino summed up his emotions afterwards.

‘It was a very difficult game, but I am so pleased,’ he said.

‘That is the Premier League. Luton are a team that fight until the end, you could see that from their games against Liverpool and Arsenal and Man City and Newcastle. It is so difficult to break them down.

‘But the team was very good. I’m very pleased with the performance. We controlled the game until the 65th minute. We needed to win and we deserved the result.

‘Of course we suffered a little bit in the last few minutes when we conceded two goals, but overall it’s a good result to build our confidence for the new year.’

Cole Palmer scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season…

‘It’s obvious he’s an important and decisive player. Scoring goals like this, I am so pleased for him and for the team.’

Noni Madueke was our other scorer after being handed a start…

‘There were many good performances. Players are stepping up. We are happy. It’s only a matter of time, it’s not a piece of magic where you can touch it and start to build a team.

‘We have a group of players who all need to feel confident and feel they can fight for their place in the starting XI.

‘When you have a big squad, if we are all fit we have players who can perform and play. It’s very positive to increase this level in every position.’

Pochettino was pleased to round off the year on a high…

‘It is really important to finish 2023 well and look forward to 2024. It was good to finish with good feelings and going into the new year keeping the momentum.’