Mauricio Pochettino believes Hugo Lloris ought to count himself fortunate he did not cause a serious accident in his moment of drink-drive madness. The Tottenham captain pleaded guilty to the offence at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday and he was fined £50,000 while also receiving a 20-month driving ban. Tottenham have fined him two weeks’ wages – roughly £250,000.

Lloris is out with a thigh injury and he will miss Saturday’s game against Liverpool at Wembley. He is a major doubt for Tuesday’s Champions League tie at Internazionale. Pochettino will also be without Dele Alli against Liverpool, after the midfielder damaged a hamstring playing for England against Spain last Saturday, and there are fears he could miss Inter and next Saturday’s trip to Brighton.

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Lloris will find that the lurid details of his criminal case cling to him for some time. He was spotted by police officers driving erratically in the small hours of 24 August at 15mph, veering towards parked vehicles and going through a red light.

The prosecution said vomit had been found in his car and Lloris needed to be helped out of his seat by officers. Lloris’s counsel described him as “completely drunk”. He was more than two times over the drink-drive limit.

Tottenham have known about the extent of Lloris’s offence since it happened and they were braced for its emergence in court. But Pochettino kept him in the team and as captain for the victory at Manchester United on 27 August and he has confirmed that Lloris will retain the armband. The goalkeeper has suffered in many ways, not least in terms of the public humiliation, but Pochettino was relieved that the error of judgment did not lead to something worse.

“Of course, [he was] lucky there was no consequence – that is important,” Pochettino said. “All men and women can make a mistake and it is a massive lesson for him, a life lesson. He is very conscious about what happened and you cannot remove it. But he has the capacity to move on and be focused on playing football.”

Pochettino was asked whether Lloris had offered to give up the club captaincy. “He apologised to everyone – the staff, the club, the fans, us,” Pochettino replied. “He said: ‘Any decision that you take, gaffer, or the club take, I think is fair.’”

Pochettino added: “Will he stay as captain? Of course. He is the first to regret about everything. He is punishing himself. We are not God and we cannot judge people. He said: ‘Gaffer, I made a mistake. Now I need to pay like a man.’”

Pochettino said Alli had felt his hamstring injury after 20 minutes of the Spain game, although he went on to complete the 90. He did something similar at the World Cup, feeling a muscle problem early in the opening game against Tunisia but playing on until the 80th minute. He then missed the remaining group phase matches. Tottenham are not happy that one of their key players has returned from England duty with an injury.