Defeat by Chelsea in last season’s final has added to Spurs’ motivation as they return to the competition in a North London derby

Mauricio Pochettino wanted it to hurt and it did. His Tottenham Hotspur team had just lost the Capital One Cup final to Chelsea last March and his players probably wanted to run off the Wembley pitch and keep running. But Pochettino made them gather to watch as, one by one, Chelsea’s triumphant players hoisted the trophy skywards.

“It is important to show respect,” Pochettino said. “But it is also important, after you lose, to stay and see the trophy that you had the possibility to win. This is a feeling that you don’t want to repeat. You can always learn from defeat. This was a good lesson for us.”

Tottenham learned from the lows of what was a transitional season last time out but, equally, they drew strength from the highs and it was one of those that Pochettino could feel more at ease in highlighting as he prepared for Wednesday night’s return to the Capital One Cup, in which his team face Arsenal at White Hart Lane.

The previous home game against their local rivals finished in a 2-1 win, a shot in the arm for Pochettino’s tenure which was marked by Harry Kane’s double, and the manager knows that a repeat performance would galvanise the club’s season.

It has been a curious start at White Hart Lane, in which performances have not been swashbuckling and there was disquiet after the transfer window closed with no out-and-out striker signed to support Kane.

But Pochettino’s team have generated a bit of momentum, with back-to-back 1-0 wins over Sunderland and Crystal Palace, either side of the 3-1 Europa League victory over Qarabag, and Arsenal’s visit seems like a potentially defining moment.

“This means more than going into the next round of the Capital One Cup, or three points in the league – it has a massive effect,” Pochettino said. “It is the derby. It was important to win this game last season – for the players and for the belief in the philosophy. And it’s very important to win it again. You beat Arsenal and it’s a big impact.

“After, we would need to follow it [up]. We play Manchester City on Saturday, Monaco next Thursday and Swansea on the Sunday. But it’s true that this is special. You can feel it in the changing room and in the training sessions.”

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For Pochettino and Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, there are difficult questions that relate to rotation and the degree of it. Wenger will make at least two changes, with Santi Cazorla suspended after his red card in the 2-0 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday and Francis Coquelin injured, but more are anticipated.

Pochettino will rest Toby Alderweireld, as the centre-half has played every minute of the season so far – he is the only Tottenham player to have done so – and he is considering changes in all departments.

Son Heung-min, the attacker signed from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, has made a flying start to his Tottenham career, injecting pace and tempo and impressing with his versatility, but, with Christian Eriksen back to fitness, he is not certain to start. Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose are expected to be selected in the full-back positions.

Arsenal arrive after defeats at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and Chelsea. There have been issues over their discipline in both matches, as well as their concentration on set pieces, and it is stating the obvious to say that Wenger needs a result. The last time Arsenal lost three times in a row was in April 2010.

“Every single game that you play you want to win but especially this one,” Wenger said. “It is a bit more special because it’s always a big meaning. We want to get back into winning habits and that’s why the momentum is even more important for us.”

Pochettino swerved the question about whether it might be a good time to play Arsenal but he made it clear that he wanted to challenge them for supremacy in north London. “We are a different club but it’s true that Tottenham need to be ambitious, to win a trophy in the next few years and to stay at the top of the league,” Pochettino said. “We have massive, massive potential to become bigger than we are now.”