MELBOURNE, Australia -- Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham Hotspur's trip to Australia will prove beneficial for the club's young players, despite defeats to Juventus and Atletico Madrid.
Early goals from Paulo Dybala and Medhi Benatia condemned Spurs to a 2-1 defeat to Juventus on Tuesday, before Diego Godin's header sealed a 1-0 win for the Spanish giants on Friday.
Both clubs will join Spurs, who finished third in the Premier League last season, in next season's Champions League, and Pochettino believes the International Champions Cup will prove a positive overall experience for his squad.
"I think it was a good opportunity to give minutes to players," the Spurs manager told a news conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
"A lot of young players played. I think it was fantastic to see them play against class teams and it was good to take positives for the future. I think a lot of positive things. We need to be optimistic, and come back to London and start to prepare for the season.
"It was a very good test for us because Juventus I think is the best team in Italy and Atletico Madrid play in the last three years two Champions League finals and today it was eight payers from the starting XI against Real Madrid."
Godin scored at the back post from an offside position after Gabi's free kick appeared to come off the head of Tottenham centre-back Anton Walkes, but the manager was convinced it was an error from the referee.
"I feel very proud of my players. I thought we were better than Atletico. The only difference was the mistake of the referee. It was a clear offside. It was a mistake but no problem," the Argentine said.
Pochettino was without the injured Kevin Wimmer, who has a tight hamstring, while Jan Vertonghen, also injured, was left in London with Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier following Euro 2016.
In the absence of a senior centre-back, Pochettino played Cameron Carter-Vickers, 18, and Walkes, 19, against Atletico and he praised the duo for their performance.
"To see Anton and Cameron against Fernando Torres, Godin, and a world-class player like Thiago, I think it was fantastic, very positive," he said.
"I think we need to take that and improve. I think we finished the game with nine players that came through our academy. I feel very proud of that. I think Tottenham have a great future but we need time.
"Today we can see Cameron and Anton -- we have young and very talented players and I trust them. We don't need to go into the market to sign another centre-half."
He also had praise for summer signing Vincent Janssen, who finished goalless in two games at the tournament, but held the ball up well against the Spaniards.
"He worked very hard and had some chances," Pochettino said. "He is still adapting his game. He came from a different league and played in a different way. I am very happy with him. All strikers want to score but he needs time."