Chris Hughton believes Mauricio Pochettino can bring the glory, glory days back to Tottenham.

But he would quite happily see that progress hit a blip tonight as Albion go to Wembley.

Hughton, who won the UEFA Cup and FA Cup (twice) as a Spurs player, has been greatly impressed by the man against whom he goes head-to-head tonight.

Pochettino’s next step in charge of Tottenham is to win silverware. Hughton reckons that will come.

Which just goes to show the challenge which awaits the Seagulls tonight.

Hughton said of the current Spurs boss: “I think he has been outstanding.

“What he has done incredibly well is get that balance between bringing through young players - or younger players brought to the club – and giving them an opportunity with the more established players.

The Argus:

“A mark of a very good manager and coach is how you improve the players “When you go through the players individually and see how much they have improved, that is the mark of a good manager.

“Do I see Tottenham winning trophies?

“They have the ability to, absolutely.

“They have continually developed over these last few seasons.

“Last season I thought they were outstanding.

“Probably that has to be their biggest priority now.

“The team have been so close over these last few seasons.

“We all know how, when you look back at how good a team was, it is generally regarding what they have won.”

That will not be the case with the current Albion side, though they would love their FA Cup run to extend to at least the fourth round.

Their season will be judged on league position which in turn could hinge on how they learn to cope with being pressed high, fast and enthusiastically.

Hughton recognised they have not been good enough in the last two games when Liverpool and Huddersfield turned up the heat.

The word will have got out pretty quickly around the Premier League.

An Albion side who looked very comfortable at this level until recently have suddenly been rushed out of their assured stride.

Tottenham will be planning more of the same.

Hughton said: “It is something we are conscious of and, in the last two games, it has been a problem. We haven’t played well enough around that system.

“We are very conscious we will have to do that better.

“In games when they are pressing high, if they win possession they have great quality to turn that into attacking and scoring goals.

“We will have to find a way of dealing with it and coping with it.”

Hughton believes Sunday will have been the toughest day for his players after the defeat by Huddersfield.

By the time they returned to work on Monday morning, the focus was very much on Tottenham.

Hughton is happy enough with the tally of points gained so far, although he expected the home-away balance to be different.

He is also reassured by the fact there are teams as well as points between his side and the relegation zone.

But he makes no pretence of ignoring the league table.

Hughton keeps a close eye on where his side stand in relation to the bottom three.

He said: “It is quite obvious that as soon as you know your result, you are hoping there are enough teams below us or around us who have not picked up points.

“Around that group of teams, somebody will put a good run together or a few teams will put together two or three wins on the spin.

“What we have to do is make sure we pick up enough points not to be dragged into that bottom three.

“The points have come a little bit differently to what I thought.

“We have picked up more points away from home than what I thought.

“Even though I am not one who continually looks at the league table, it is very important how many teams are below you.

“At this moment, would I have settled for the amount of teams who are below us? Yes, of course I would.”

This won’t be a sentimental return to White Hart Lane for Hughton.

A trip to Spurs’ borrowed home of Wembley could lift Albion in the same way as the London Stadium or Old Trafford.

But, in the bigger picture of proving themselves in the Premier League, Hughton hopes and believes his side are inspired by all challenges.

And he would love to see that proved over the next four days.

He said: “We are still in a position where this division is new to us.

“We have played Burnley a couple of seasons ago in the Championship, which is not so new to our players.

“But I would still think players want to play as much on Saturday as they do on Wednesday.”