Sunday 10 January 2016 20:41, UK
Mauricio Pochettino insists Tottenham are not lucky to still be in the FA Cup after Harry Kane's late penalty earned a third-round replay against Leicester.
Kane had started the match on the bench at White Hart Lane but was called upon as the Foxes looked to be on course for another famous victory in their impressive season.
Christian Eriksen had fired the hosts ahead on eight minutes before Marcin Wasilewski levelled and substitute Shinji Okazaki struck moments after coming on to turn the game, only for Kane to smash home an 89th minute penalty to secure a 2-2 draw.
Nathan Dyer conceded the untimely spot-kick having been adjudged to have handled the ball as Danny Rose broke into the Leicester penalty area and Kane, who had not had a chance until that point, emphatically finished to set up a replay.
It means Tottenham and Leicester will meet three times inside a fortnight as next week's replay is preceded by a Premier League clash between the pair on Wednesday night.
Asked if his side were lucky to get a replay, Pochettino replied: "Lucky? No. You must never give up. I didn't see if it was [a penalty] or not. But sometimes the decisions are for you sometimes they are against you. If I watch it again I can give a better opinion.
"It's true we are happy and very pleased to get the draw at the end. It's important for us to stay alive in the competition. But if we analyse, the first half, we deserved more. We dominated the whole game. But I'm happy. The performance was good. We have another chance."
Both sides made wholesale changes as Tottenham made seven alterations to Leicester's eight and while the replay adds to an already congested month of fixtures, Pochettino backed his squad to prove its strength in depth as they embark on an important January.
"It is tough for us and tough for [Leicester]," he added. "We need to be strong in our mind. We have a strong squad. Today showed that those not playing in the first team can fight for a place.
"It's complicated. It's tough to play Premier League, Europa League and cups. But it's for that we have a very strong squad and we made seven changes.
"We need to keep fit all the players, and motivated. It's a good thing to compete and that the squad believes everyone can compete for a consistent place in the team."
