Mauricio Pochettino hails Spurs' spirit after turnaround

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino paid tribute to his side’s character after they came back from two goals behind to beat Burnley.

Early strikes from Marvin Sordell and Ross Wallace saw the Clarets storm into the lead within eight minutes at White Hart Lane.

But a quick response from Paulinho and a goal from Etienne Capoue drew Spurs level by half time, before Vlad Chiriches and Danny Rose secured a 4-2 victory.

Spurs will now have home advantage again when they host Leicester City in the Fourth Round on Saturday 24 January.

“It’s important for us,” said Pochettino after the game.

“At 2-0 down, I was happy that we showed the team’s character to come back into the game.

“If we take the first ten minutes away, after that, we deserved to go to the next round.”

The Argentine had no explanation for his team’s slow start to the game, when Sean Dyche’s men looked every inch a team in form.

But he was pleased with the response shown and is now hoping his squad can take confidence into the next game of what is proving to be a busy January.

“It is difficult to explain, but in football you need to be focused,” he admitted.

Vlad Chiriches celebrates as Spurs take the lead for the first time

“The first goal was a mistake and then the deflection on the free-kick from the wall was unlucky, but this sometimes happens in football.

“But for me, the most important thing is how the team came back into the game and showed their character to go the next round.

“It was important to win this game and it’s good for the feel [of the team]

“Today, different players had the opportunity to play, which is good for every player.

“We need to protect the players and analyse the situation and today, some players we needed to give rest to.

“It’s important to manage the squad because it’s a very tough period and we need to avoid the risk of injuries.”

Meanwhile, Burnley boss Sean Dyche felt that some uncharacteristic mistakes from his team led to their exit from the competition.

He made five changes to his side, following seven straight games with the same line-up and felt they were good value for their early lead – until Spurs forced their way back into the contest.

“From our point of view, it was a game of mistakes and that changed the game,” he explained.

“They’re a good side, even when they make changes, but when you’re 2-0 up and make the mistakes that we made, it’s going to be very tough.

“I was enthused by the team at the start because the players were champing at the bit and generally there were some really good performances.

“But it was just the details that hurt us tonight, especially the first two goals because you can’t get away with that at this level.

“Our focus was to win the game, it always is. 

“We wanted to win, we didn’t, so we move forward and concentrate on the Premier League.”