Tottenham and Norwich turn attentions away from league troubles in FA Cup fifth round clash

Tottenham and Norwich face off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the FA Cup on Wednesday night as both seek a place in the hat for the quarter-finals.

The Canaries are looking to reach the quarter-final stage for the first time since the 1991-92 season, most recently getting to the fifth round stage in 2011-12.

On the other hand, Spurs have progressed to the quarter-final stage on nine out of the last ten occasions they have reached the fifth round, but have only triumphed in one of the last four FA Cup matches against Norwich.

Their most recent fixture of any sort against Daniel Farke’s men was on 22nd January, Tottenham winning 2-1 after a late Heung-Min Son goal.

Team news

Ryan Sessegnon is available again after a hip problem with Tottenham youngster Troy Parrott confirmed to be on the bench by Jose Mourinho.

Spurs currently have four long term absentees with Hugo Lloris (groin), Harry Kane (hamstring), Heung-Min Son (arm) and Moussa Sissoko (knee) all continuing their rehabilitations from injuries.

Teemu Pukki and Alexander Tettey are doubts for the fixture having missed training this week through illness.

Christoph Zimmermann (hamstring), Onel Hernandez (knee) and Sam Byram (hamstring) all remain sidelined as they recover from long-term injuries.

Jose Mourinho reiterated his aims for the future whilst in charge of the club:

“My focus is long term focus. That’s with the long term focus, everything is the same for me. I want to win a trophy with Tottenham. That doesn’t change for me. This season the circumstances are not easy.

“The fact that I couldn’t play the Carabao Cup gave me one less chance to win a trophy. Twelve points behind fourth and 30 points behind first obviously made that impossible too.

“So you are right, in this competition we are in this moment 15 teams because Portsmouth is out. I think all the 15 teams we have a dream to fight for.

“It doesn’t matter Kane, Lloris, Sissoko or Sonny or whoever, it doesn’t matter. Until we are in the competition we are going to fight for the dream.”

Daniel Farke praised the Norwich fans after selling out their allocation for the fixture despite the team’s league struggles:

“9,000 Norwich fans going says a lot about the mood and unity of the club. Sitting at the bottom of the table, it’s outstanding. We have a responsibility to show pride to wear the yellow shirt.”