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Hugo Lloris believes Tottenham need a strong European campaign to help them handle the pressure of big away matches in the Premier League.

Tottenham face Ghent in the Europa League last 32 on Thursday with their hopes of winning the domestic title disappearing fast.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino has often rotated heavily for cup football, but Lloris hinted that playing in these matches would prove invaluable.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool leaves Tottenham 10 points behind Chelsea, who drew 1-1 at Burnley yesterday, and means Tottenham now need a miracle to secure the title.

They have collected only two points from a possible 15 at the grounds of the other top-six teams this term, while in the race for Champions League football next season, they are only two points above Manchester United in sixth spot.

Spurs captain Lloris said: “Before thinking about the title, we need to think about the teams behind us in the table, because they are all top clubs with top players and they are used to fighting for the top four and for trophies. Maybe they are more experienced than us. Even if we had good experience last season when we were fighting for the title, it is not enough. It is difficult to explain and we need to question ourselves about this.

“We need to have ambitions in both the Europa League and FA Cup because it is important to feel this kind of pressure. We are young and need to feel the pressure of these games to improve. We have plenty of young players with a lot of talent but we need to go through these kinds of situations because you can’t buy experience. You need to face these situations, live them.

“The Europa League is a top competition. We would like to have still been in the Champions League (Spurs were knocked out in the group stages) but we still need to enjoy this competition. We have a status: we are Tottenham. We need to show that in every competition we are involved in.”

All eyes will now be on the team Pochettino picks at the Ghelamco Arena. Tottenham then play three days later — at Fulham in the FA Cup fifth round — before hosting the Belgians in the return leg on February 23.

With no Premier League fixture before the match against Stoke at White Hart Lane on February 26, it will be interesting to see which competition Pochettino deems more important.

Lloris was at a loss to explain Spurs’ difficulties on the road. Of those two points taken at top-six this term, one was a highly-fortunate 2-2 draw at Manchester City and the other at neighbours Arsenal (1-1).

In some ways, Tottenham are over-performing. Their net spend on transfers is far less than that of their main rivals and their wage bill is significantly lower. Yet there is frustration whenever they reach a hurdle they cannot clear.

Pochettino questioned his side’s desire in the first half at Anfield and Lloris added: “We cannot fail in this area of the game. The aggression has to be natural, especially against top teams.

“We need to learn a lot from the Liverpool game. My feeling is that this was not the first time we had started a game in this way. We did it at Manchester City and even at Manchester United (where Spurs lost 1-0 in December).

“Before thinking about next season, we need to concentrate on finishing as high as possible. There is a lot for us to gain. We can put this club consistently in the top four and we are still involved in two cup competitions. We have done very well at home and, hopefully, we can improve our away form.”