Mauricio Pochettino says patience must be the watchword in Tottenham Hotspur’s quest to win a trophy – since they might not yet be ready for it. The manager watched his team go out of the Europa League on Thursday night against Gent and he acknowledged the club’s honours drought was something of a millstone.

Tottenham have won three trophies in the past 33 years – one FA Cup and two League Cups – and none since 2008 but Pochettino, who has overseen significant improvements since taking charge in May 2014, is confident they are on the right path.

Pochettino considered the ongoing construction of the club’s new stadium – which, it is hoped, will be ready for the start of the 2018-19 season, and he used it – as a metaphor for the work that he is doing at the club.

“We have pushed the expectations higher because last season we were there – second, third in the league – and that is good,” Pochettino said before Sunday’s home game against Stoke City. “But my question is maybe we are not ready [in terms of trophies]. It’s like the stadium: if we want to move today, we are not ready to play there. We need to wait, to build the foundations. It’s always a problem, to be patient, to arrive.

“The important thing is the club. Our chairman has built the foundation – new facilities on the training ground, a new stadium to help to be a better team and a bigger club. We are on the way to building one of the best clubs in Europe. But we must be patient.”

Pochettino wants to add quality in the summer in order to maintain the sense of momentum, although he stressed the need to be “clever”. While the new stadium is being built Tottenham do not have the same resources as the other clubs in the Premier League’s top six.

“Football is about quality and being clever,” Pochettino said. “It’s always about improving. We must add quality to the team if we want to fight for big things. And we will try. It’s our job to find the right profile and player that can play for us.”