|
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino admitted he was rattled by the late rally from Sheffield United that threatened to swing the Capital One Cup semifinal second leg away from his team at Bramall Lane. Pochettino appeared to be in for a comfortable evening as his Premier League side dominated their League One rivals for most of the game until two goals from teenage substitute Che Adams handed Sheffield United and improbable route back into the tie. However, a late Christian Eriksen goal clinched Tottenham's 3-2 aggregate win and gave Pochettino an appearance in a Wembley final in his first season as Spurs boss. "For sure I was worried because it's always important to kill the game and to score more goals than only one," he told Sky Sports. "In football, you need to kill and to score when you have the possibility. We created a lot of chances, but this was always going to be a difficult game and Sheffield put us under unbelievable pressure, especially in the last 10 minutes, but I believe we deserve it. "I am very happy. I'm happy for our players because they deserve to go to the final, to Wembley and happy too for our supporters. The important thing is the objective is done, we are at Wembley and this is the most important thing. "It is my first final at Wembley, it is new to me and new to a lot of our players, so we will enjoy it." Tottenham will play Chelsea in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley on March 1, with Pochettino evading any suggestion that his side's thrilling 5-3 Premier League win against Jose Mourinho's side could give Spurs a psychological edge going into their next meeting. "Every game is different and the first objective in this game was not to get a match with Chelsea, but just to reach the final," he added. "Now we have to focus on a different competition in the Premier League for a few weeks, but we know it's going to be a tough game because Chelsea are one of the best teams in the world." Meanwhile Sheffield United manager Nigel Clough spoke of his pride and pain, after seeing his side threaten to continue their remarkable cup heroics with a giant killing of Tottenham. "I'm incredibly proud of the players, what they have given over the two legs," stated Clough. "We ran Spurs very close, but just that little bit of quality made the difference. "The chance that we had after five or ten minutes of the game from Jamie Murphy that was kicked off the line, that could have made for a different game altogether. Goals change games. "We take a lot of positives. We know when we play like that with the crowd behind us, we can be a force at home. Everyone associated with the club gave everything and we have to take that attitude in the league campaign now."
|
