Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night blew a two-goal lead against West Ham to bow out of the Carabao Cup and Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino blasted his side’s second-half performance in the aftermath of their exit from the competition.

“I feel very disappointed because in the second half we were a different team from the first half,” Pochettino was quoted as saying by the club website.

Coming into the tie, Spurs were heavy favourites to clinch the win and goals from Moussa Sissoko and Dele Alli had seemingly got them on their way to another routine victory.

However, West Ham striker Andre Ayew struck a second-half brace to equalise proceedings at Wembley before Angelo Ogbonna would head home a 70th-minute winner to complete a miraculous comeback for the visitors.

“We lost focus and allowed them to come back into the game,” admitted the Argentine tactician as he added, “The way we then conceded the goals made it difficult to come back and turn the game around again”.

Spurs, among the most in-form sides in the Premier League, let their foot off the gas and paid the price and their manager echoed that thought in his post-match interview.

“I’m a little surprised with our performance in the second half but sometimes this happens in football. That’s the cup. You can never be relaxed. It’s impossible in football until the final whistle to think the game is over.”

Struggling the find a reason for the inexplicable loss, especially considering the fact that they held a 2-0 lead at half-time, Pochettino added, “It’s difficult to explain. We must fight and be aggressive until the end. We lost the game for different reasons and now we have to be relaxed, calm, try to analyse why and then try to be competitive against Manchester United on Saturday”.

The Lilywhites visit Old Trafford on Saturday knowing a win against United will see them move up to second spot in the Premier League table.

United, are in a bit of a rut after drawing at Liverpool last week before suffering an upset at the hands of Huddersfield Town on the weekend and Pochettino’s men will be favourites to clinch the win.

However, the Red Devils did manage to beat Swansea 2-0 in their Carabao Cup fixture on Tuesday night and along with the extra advantage of a day’s rest, will be looking to nab three points in the crunch Premier League clash.