Voices on the game... Norwich

We hear from Alasdair Gold, journalist at football.london, as well as Daniel Farke and Ben Godfrey from the Norwich City camp, plus Jose Mourinho, in our latest ‘Voices on the game’ round-up ahead of this evening’s (Wednesday 4 March, 7.45pm) FA Cup fifth round tie with the Canaries at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium...

Alasdair Gold

Tottenham Hotspur correspondent, football.london

“This is going to be a battle won by whichever team can patch up the better players to get out there on the turf. Both Spurs and Norwich have injuries and fitness doubts, on top of tired players as the fixtures come thick and fast in all competitions. The north London outfit are leaking goals right now but they're coming up against a Canaries side struggling to find the net in many games.

“However, Daniel Farke's men will have the confidence boost of Friday night's victory against Leicester and have had those two extra days to recover than Spurs. Both matches between the sides this season have been tight affairs and on this occasion much will also depend on how much Norwich truly want a run in the FA Cup with their relegation battle ongoing. Despite their own injury problems, Tottenham have the quality within their squad and will be hurting from three consecutive defeats. This game could be decided by the fresher players who Jose Mourinho may well choose to hand minutes to, the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Erik Lamela, Ryan Sessegnon and Gedson Fernandes. Many of Tottenham's regular starting XI look to have been running on fumes at times amid the recent injury woes and that fresh injection of legs could just be more telling than Norwich's.”

Daniel Farke

Norwich City Head Coach

“I think both games against Tottenham (in the Premier League this season) we were on the top level. In the home game they equalised quite late from Harry Kane’s penalty, in the second game I think we were pretty close to winning it. Their only chance in the second half, it deflected across and we were unlucky that they were able to score. It says on the other hand that we have a chance wherever we go. If we are good in our topics, we can give a good game against such a good team who are still fighting for a Champions League position, but also it says a lot about the quality of Tottenham.

“When you play such a side you always have to be switched on in each and every second, because sometimes they need a little moment to decide a game. It will be a complicated task and we’re not the favourites, but if we’re good we have a chance. I think they will be prepared because it’s their big chance to win the FA Cup. Jose (Mourinho) is always unbelievably focused to win titles, for that I think they will be highly motivated and fully switched on to be successful in this home game. They will use their strengths to go into the quarter-finals. I don’t expect an easy game, not at all. I think Tottenham, especially after the last results, will be highly motivated to get the next good result under their belts. I think the recent result doesn’t help us, it’s more like the other way around – I’d have preferred they won the last game if I’m honest! We can’t choose, so we have to make the best out of this.”

Jose Mourinho

Spurs Head Coach

“We’ve played them twice, a draw and a very narrow victory. We know - and I said in the press conference after the last game - they don’t belong in the position in the table (Norwich are currently bottom). They just beat Leicester (on Friday), I think Liverpool were lucky to beat them a couple of weeks ago (1-0 at Carrow Road, 15 February). It was so difficult for us to win against them. It will be a difficult match, a special match. We want to be in the draw. We want to be in the quarter-finals.”

Ben Godfrey

Norwich City defender

“There is a lot of hunger in the group. The boys are desperate to get out there and perform and it’s a chance to win a trophy at the end of the day, play at Wembley as well and go down in history at the club. We’re all looking forward to it. It should be a good one – cup games are always exciting.

“It’s been tough for the boys because there has been quite a lot of times when we thought we definitely should have got more than what we have done (in the Premier League). Obviously all that matters is points and the three points (against Leicester) on Friday was long overdue – hopefully we can pick up many more in the last section of the season. Three points gave us a massive boost of confidence and we can take that into the game (tonight).”