Spurs 6-1 Rochdale - Mauricio's reaction

Mauricio Pochettino praised the players for keeping their concentration after several controversial moments in the first half to go on and complete the job against Rochdale on Wednesday night.

Fernando Llorente’s 12-minute hat-trick at the start of the second period blew the League One side away in our FA Cup fifth round replay at a wintry Wembley Stadium.

Heung-Min Son subsequently added to his first-half goal with a tap-in while young Kyle Walker-Peters came off the bench to open his account and complete a 6-1 victory, but much of the post-match discussion centred around two disallowed goals and the use of the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) in the opening exchanges.

Erik Lamela’s early goal was chalked off based on video replays while an initially-awarded free-kick was then changed to a penalty for us after Kieran Trippier was fouled. Son scored the spot kick, but was penalised for halting during his run-up and again it didn’t count.

“The first half was so difficult to maintain the focus because of a lot of controversial decisions from the VAR but in the end I’m happy, in the second half we were focused on playing football and then we fully deserved (the victory) after the performance,” said Mauricio.

“I’m so happy because the job is done, we are in the quarter-finals and that was our objective. I’m happy for different players, for Fernando Llorente with his hat-trick and Kyle Walker-Peters because he scored, and I think the performance was good.

“The first half was so difficult, it’s so difficult to stop and start and be focused on the game but in the end I’m happy with the result and now we’re in the quarter-finals.”

Sub-zero temperatures and persistent snowfall made for a fascinating night at Wembley. On the elements, Mauricio added: “Always it’s difficult to play because it doesn’t help the football, but we are in a moment and a period where it’s so cold and we need to accept that. We need to play and be strong against this situation.”

On Fernando’s treble, he said: “I’m very pleased for him and very pleased for the team. For a striker, it’s so important to feel the net.”

The result sets up a quarter-final tie at Fernando’s former club, Swansea City, on Saturday 17 March, kick-off 12.15pm and Mauricio added: “Always we are confident but it will be a very tough game against Swansea, a Premier League team.

“In the quarter-finals, we are so close to playing the semi-finals here (at Wembley) but of course we are going to have a very tough game. The competition is completely different to the Premier League and Champions League and of course we’re always confident, but it will be very, very tough.”