Pochettino hopes for time to build winning mentality

( Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday left them without an away win against any of their rivals in the top six and manager Mauricio Pochettino knows his most pressing task at the North London club is to build a winning mentality.

Spurs sit third in the Premier League, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea, and of their 14 wins this season, 10 have come at home. In addition to losing at Liverpool, they lost to Manchester United and Chelsea away, and drew with Manchester City and Arsenal.

The lack of success in tough away matches is part of the reason Tottenham have won just one piece of silverware over the past 10 years (League Cup in 2008) and have not won the league since 1961.

"Maybe I will have time to improve that and change it. Maybe not," he told British media. "That is football. It's about winning. That is the hardest job to change. It's not about tactics or philosophy.

"It's about one aspect that you need time for. You need time to build that winning mentality.

"It's not only about the 25 players and the staff. It's the whole club. That makes it the hardest job."

Tottenham travel to face Belgian side Gent in the first leg of their round-of-32 Europa League clash on Thursday before a trip to second-tier Fulham in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)