A defeat against Stoke City has put a huge dent in Southampton's hopes of finishing in the top four but defender Jose Fonte is not yet ready to give up.

The seventh-placed Saints were beaten 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium which saw them fall eight points behind fourth-placed Manchester City but Fonte is already looking ahead to the crunch clash with Tottenham next week.

"We're kicking ourselves," said the Portuguese defender. "We weren't expecting to lose at Stoke, but we need to pick ourselves up because there's still five games to go, so we still have a lot to play for.

"Obviously it's a very difficult task to make the top four. But while it's still mathematically possible we need to keep fighting and trying to win games.

"Tottenham is a massive game. We know what's at stake, so we will forget this game and concentrate on the next one.

"We don't need any extra motivation. The game itself is going to be a massive one, and we want to put this one right.

"Obviously, there's that added bit that Pochettino is coming back, but for us players it's just another big game against a team that is next to us that we want to beat."