Winks praises forward players for late burst against Saints

Harry Winks pointed to the closing stages of Wednesday’s FA Cup replay against Southampton as evidence of what we’re truly capable of in attack.

Trailing 2-1 at home with just under a quarter-of-an-hour remaining, we clicked into gear and took control to turn the tie on its head, booking a fifth-round meeting with Norwich City next month as a result.

Lucas Moura sparked the revival with a fine finish from the edge of the box, before Heung-Min Son won and planted home a penalty after arguably our best spell of the game to make the final score 3-2.

Midfielder Winksy admitted our performance against an impressive Saints side hadn’t been up to the levels the players demand of themselves at times, but said the way we finished the game meant we can be optimistic when we return to action after the winter break.

“Spirit, that’s the best way to describe it,” said the England international. “There were times that we were poor, not aggressive enough, not good enough on the ball but we stayed in the game. We rode our luck at times but with the quality and determination we have, we managed to come back and win. The front players can turn it on whenever and it felt like that. We were grafting at the back and needed a little bit of magic and they came up with it.

“Watch it back – Southampton had more of the ball, they were more aggressive, created more chances and we needed to do something about it. As long as we defend resiliently and keep believing we’re in the game, we have the quality and the players, especially up front, to turn it on.

“We did it the hard way, but it makes it that little more special to go and win in the final minutes like that, especially when you’ve been down. That little burst of energy in the last 10 minutes took us to the win and the crowd played a massive part in that, spurring us on after Lucas’ goal. It was a good victory.”

We return to Premier League duties away to Aston Villa on Sunday 16 February.