Spurs were cruising in October’s Carabao Cup clash before a quickfire double from Andre Ayew and an Angelo Ogbonna header completed a stunning turnaround.
But Pochettino has told his charges not to make the same mistakes if they want to close the gap to a single point on the Premier League top four tonight.
“This game is not about revenge,” said the Spurs manager. “But it was a game that was so important for us.
“It was 2-0 at half-time and we all – because I need to put myself in this too – believed the game was over, but it was 3-2 in the end. It was a massive mistake.
“We played so well in the first half and then the second half we played so badly and conceded three goals.
“The Carabao Cup was not bottom of our priorities at all. Have a look at the team that we picked.
“Now it is the League and we need to win because we have to fight for the top four. It is so important to get three points.
“We will approach it in the same a attitude and purpose. I would sign now to be two goals up at half-time, and then we need to be more clever.
“West Ham have improved a lot with David Moyes and it will be very testing.”
Pochettino was without captain Hugo Lloris for the last-16 defeat while Christian Eriksen was used sparingly from the bench. Harry Kane was also missing as Spurs failed to reach the quarter-finals for the third season in-a-row.
The England striker has been battling a cold but was unleashed at the Liberty Stadium to set up Dele Alli, who completed a 2-0 victory over Swansea.
He is set to start against Moyes’ men despite Fernando Llorente finding his goalscoring touch against his former club on his first Premier League start for Spurs.
A fourth straight victory would heap more pressure on Liverpool, who occupy fourth spot on 44 points.
Kane has already scored 18 Premier League goals this season, and skipper Lloris believes he will be fit and firing against a West Ham side who have only lost once in their last six games under David Moyes.
“Harry maybe needed a bit of rest and will obviously now be ready for the derby. At this period of the season it is important to keep all players safe and we have the quality in our squad to make some rotation,” said Lloris.
“It isn’t easy to play two games in 48 hours and it was important to get the three points at Swansea. Now it is all about focusing on the recovery because the next game is coming so quickly.
“The weather was difficult to manage at Swansea and we can be pleased with the performance and the three points. We made a fast start, went 1-0 up and we should have scored a second goal before half-time.
“We didn’t and we let them in the game. They had a few chances in the second half to equalise, but we stayed strong in difficult conditions on a difficult pitch.
“We know that every game is important from now to the end of the season and we will be trying even harder on Thursday because it is a derby match. It means more for the fans, obviously, and we will try to make them happy with a good performance.”