Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris injury affected by stress of drink-driving charge, says Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that the stress of Hugo Lloris' drink-drive charge may have contributed to the injury that has sidelined the Tottenham captain for the last three games.

Lloris was fined £50,000 and banned from driving for 20 months after pleading guilty to being more than twice over the drink-drive limit at Westminster Magistrates Court last week.

Three days after his charged in the early hours of Friday August 24, Lloris injured his thigh in the 3-0 win at Manchester United on Monday, ruling him out of France's two Uefa Nations League matches and Spurs' 2-1 defeats to Watford, Liverpool and Inter Milan.

The goalkeeper will also miss Saturday's league game at Brighton and Pochettino hopes a period on the sidelines will allow Lloris to relax and reflect on his actions.

“I think he was under stress during the game against Manchester United," the Spurs manager said. "I think the added stress maybe created that injury. The injury now is helping him to take time and think and be a little bit more relaxed. To compete after what happened was a massive stress for him.

"[His recovery] is a point that we still do not know. We hope as soon as possible but we think the plan is still [for him to return] next week if everything goes to plan in training."

The court heard Lloris provided a sample containing 80 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath when stopped by police following a night of drinking with France teammates Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny in Mayfair. The legal limit in England and Wales is 35 microgrammes, and the 31-year-old had to be helped from his Porsche Panamera, where police found vomit.

He was driving at 15mph in a 30mph zone and had failed to stop for a red light. Asked if the goalkeeper has a drinking problem, Pochettino said: “Who? Hugo? No, no, no.

“[The club's punishment] is private," he added. "I think the punishment came from the court and public judgement is massive punishment. All that happened inside, I think we want to keep it inside, that’s much better."

Lloris' conviction has been among a number of off-field issues for Spurs this season, including indefinite delays to the club's new £850million stadium project and an unprecedented summer in the transfer market, when they did not buy or sell a single player.

After starting the season with three straight wins, they have suffered as many defeats in a row for the fist time under Pochettino but the manager says he is fully responsible for the slump and relaxed about the club's situation.

"The only way we can stop that [criticism] is winning games and if we don’t win everyone is going to criticise more than now," he said. "And you know what is going to happen when we don’t win games, the first responsible is me. I am so relaxed.

"In football something happen, the situation I am going to give my best until the end. I am going to stick with the club, I am not going to criticise the club. All the decisions are our decisions and of course always with the club until the end, maybe still here in five years or maybe in one week we are not here but always talking well about the club and helping them to achieve all they want."