Spurs may need to alter style to halt slump - Pochettino

REUTERS - Tottenham Hotspur may need to find different ways to unlock the defences if they are to reignite their Premier League title bid, manager Mauricio Pochettino said on Tuesday.

Spurs have failed to build on a strong start to the campaign, winning three of their last 13 games to exit the Champions League and slip to fifth in the table, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea after 15 matches.

"Until now we have used three different formations, three different set-ups, but yes, we need to find different ways to play," Pochettino told reporters.

"It may be a possibility that the expectation is higher. We played in different competitions like the Champions League and it was not possible to rotate."

Leading striker Harry Kane recently suggested that opponents have worked out how to play against Tottenham, who lost 1-0 at Manchester United on Sunday, but Pochettino rejected the idea that his team have regressed this season.

"Some were injured like Harry Kane or Toby Alderweireld and now Mousa Dembele, so it was impossible to be fresh for the Premier League," the Argentine said.

"But today after 15 games we have 27 points, last season after 15 games, if my memory is good, 26 points. We have one point more than last season."

Spurs host 19th-placed Hull City on Wednesday and will be without injured midfielders Dembele and Erik Lamela and striker Vincent Janssen.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)