Tottenham's Pochettino wants 'bad period' to end at Fulham

(Reuters) - Mauricio Pochettino is eager to bring a swift end to Tottenham Hotspur's "bad period" when they travel to second-tier side Fulham in the FA Cup on Sunday as the Argentine rejected the notion his side are in the midst of a crisis.

Tottenham followed up a poor performance in Saturday's Premier League defeat at Liverpool with a blunt display in Thursday's 1-0 Europa League round-of-32 first-leg loss at Belgian side Gent.

"That is the reality. It sometimes happens. Good and bad things happen. We've started now a bad period. I hope, on Sunday, we break that negative run," Pochettino told British media.

"It's not about confidence... We were wrong with our judgement if we think, because of Liverpool, it's only about confidence."

Tottenham's woes were further compounded on Thursday when attacking spearhead Harry Kane sustained a knock to his knee that will likely force him to miss the match at Craven Cottage.

Pochettino suggested he would rotate his squad for the fifth-round tie against Fulham.

"I think we need to assess some players. Harry Kane got a knock on his knee, different players too. We need to refresh the team and we'll do that," the Argentine manager added.

"We'll see, but we'll put out a team with aims to win and be ready again to compete."

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru)