Part-timers of Tamworth take Spurs to the brink

Tottenham Hotspur narrowly avoided FA Cup embarrassment against non-league Tamworth on Jan 12, as they needed extra time before securing a 3-0 third-round win.

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Ange Postecoglou's side, 12th in the English Premier League, are 96 places above Tamworth, who sit 16th in the fifth-tier National League.

But the gap in quality was rarely apparent as Spurs' dismal display at The Lamb Ground took them to the brink of a historic humiliation.

Tamworth should have caused one of the FA Cup's greatest upsets in regulation but their missed chances proved crucial.

Nathan Tshikuna's extra-time own goal and strikes from Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson sent Tottenham into the fourth round.

"As far as I'm aware, we're through to the next round, that was the objective," insisted Postecoglou.

"It was a challenging game, as we expected it to be. Credit to Tamworth, they made it hard for us.

"With the surface, it was always going to be a matter of us staying calm, being persistent in our football. We had a couple of chances we should've done better with but in the end we got the job done."