Mauricio Pochettino: My aim is not to finish above Arsenal but to take Tottenham above all 19 clubs

Mauricio Pochettino has insisted Tottenham have bigger ambitions than finishing above Arsenal and claimed he will be “very disappointed” if they don’t win the Premier League title.

Spurs are four points behind leaders Chelsea but can confirm a higher League placing than the Gunners for the first time in 22 years with victory in Sunday’s north London derby at White Hart Lane.

Arsenal fans have enjoyed a long supremacy over their bitter rivals to the extent the point at which Spurs can no longer mathematically finish above them each year has become an annual celebration known as ‘St Totteringham’s Day’.

Pochettino admitted he had not heard the term before and believes his squad’s focus should be on overhauling Chelsea at the top of the table.

“I understand [the rivalry] but my feeling is now when we are so close, only four points - but it’s massive with five games to play – I will be very disappointed if we don’t win the title,” he said.

“I will start to think of the good things that have happened this season and be realistic to analyse the season. But I really don’t think about in which position is Arsenal. My view about things is to try to win every game and try to win the Premier League and then we’ll see.

“We will have time to be happy but for different things. We are professionals and it’s important to give our best and be ourselves and try to achieve ourselves and not just see what happens next to us.

“My challenge and my aim is not to be above Arsenal. My challenge and my aim is to be above 19 teams and be on the top. That is my challenge, my aim, my dream. I don’t care what happens with Arsenal, with all my respect. What I care is what happens with us. That’s our big, big challenge at Tottenham.

“I really don’t care about that celebration [St Totteringham’s Day]. My English is so bad I don’t read or listen too much. We are here to help the club to achieve things to be better every day and every season. Of course, we want to win and we’re focused on that and not on other things.”

Both Danny Rose and Mousa Dembele will be assessed before determining whether they will be fit to face Arsenal. Rose has begun to integrate with some aspects of first-team training as he steps up his recovery from a knee injury while Dembele’s ankle problem, sustained against Crystal Palace, makes him a major doubt.

Spurs are yet to confirm whether they will play their home games at Wembley next season but they are widely expected to move as White Hart Lane is redeveloped and Pochettino added: “Maybe it will be the last [derby there]. But we are playing from the beginning of the season as if it’s the last game at White Hart Lane.

“Everyone behaves with energy that is amazing and you can be sure Sunday is a special game and we will try altogether to win. We compete against a very good team like Arsenal. They have fantastic players. But all together we can give our best and try to get three points.”