Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea’s performance in beating his former club Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge made him the happiest he has been all season.

Goals in each half from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson enabled Chelsea to do the Premier League double over their London rivals with a 2-0 home win and move up to eighth in the Premier League with four matches left to play.

After the match Pochettino praised the competitive spirit his players showed against Spurs, in marked contrast to manner in which he felt they “gave up” in a 5-0 defeat to Arsenal last month.

“I think for me, it is the best game,” Pochettino said. “Maybe I don’t know if it’s the best game but it is the most happy I’ve been after. In the way that we play, the way we compete, that is what we wanted from the beginning of the season, what we want to apply to the team.

“We were so competitive. In this way, we can grow, we can do better and we can improve in the areas.

Pochettino also singled out Noni Madueke for praise after the winger carried a constant threat from the right flank against Tottenham, the club where he spent the majority of his academy career.

“It is not easy to create a competitive group of players that can go to the pitch 100 per cent in their best form,” Chelsea’s head coach added. “In the last few weeks, we are trying to find this balance. People are starting to realise it is a process, the time that you need.

“Noni Madueke, for me, was unbelievable. If you analyse him from the start of the season; all the conversations and meetings, clips and videos, things like this.

“He was capable today of doing a fantastic job with the ball of course, he is an offensive player but without the ball he is doing a fantastic job helping Alfie (Gilchrist) defend. That is what we need for the future, to build this competitive spirit.”

Chelsea face West Ham United this afternoon.