Graham Potter found a nice way to play down talk of a personal battle of wits against the man he calls “a master”.

Jose Mourinho makes a third visit to the Amex tomorrow hoping to improve on defeats he endured with Manchester United.

Potter was widely seen as having got the better of Marcelo Bielsa when the Seagulls won at Leeds recently.

Now he goes up against Mourinho as Tottenham visit.

“I don’t see it as me personally going up against Jose, thankfully, because if it was, we may as well stay in the house!” Potter joked.

Make no mistake. He will feel his team can get a result against Spurs.

But his admiration for Mourinho is obvious.

He said: “I watched Jose work when he was at Real Madrid, but it wasn’t as an invite or anything like that.

“I was purely fortunate enough to be there for a day to watch a training session.

“He has always been someone that I have looked up to, somebody that I have been interested in.

“Certainly from the moment he walked into the UK and I thought his Chelsea team were fantastic.

“The way he was as a coach and the way he conducted himself was really interesting to me at the time.

“So he’s somebody I have had a huge respect for. He’s a master.”

Potter would love a repeat of history.

Albion secured their first home win of last season against Spurs and opened their account in the previous campaign against Mourinho, when they beat his Manchester United 3-2.

It’s a team thing for Potter, though.

All about beating Tottenham rather than their manager.

He said: “It would have zero significance for my CV, if I am honest.

“Not because I don’t respect Jose Mourinho but I don’t think you’re in football for that type of stuff.

“For me, it’s more about we want to get the points for the club.

“My respect for what Jose Mourinho has done in his career is incredible, it can’t be higher because he’s won in multiple places - Portugal, England, Italy, Spain. What he has achieved is amazing.

“If we can get a win that would be great but it wouldn’t be for my own personal thing, it’s more for the team.

“And win, lose or draw, my respect for him is sky high.”

Spurs could give Gareth Bale a role at the Amex, especially with Harry Kane ruled out.

Bale featured at the official openeing of the stadium when Tottenham visited back in the summer of 2011.

WHO REPLACES KANE FOR SPURS?

His loan stint back at the club is generally being seen as underwhelming so far.

But Albion will be aware a high spot came when he headed the winner against them at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this term.

Potter said: “I know that it’s not easy if you haven’t been playing football for a while to suddenly hit the ground running in the Premier League.

“It’s not that simple, regardless of who you are. You need a bit of time, you need to get into that rhythm, adapt to the league, even though he’s coming in having been here in the past.

“If you haven’t been playing regularly, the demands and the intensity of it are quite strong and then he’s going to a club that’s obviously got competition and good players.

“I haven’t given it a massive amount of thought but it’s a lot to do with the challenges of the Premier League.”