It was a case of firsts for both managers, a first cup defeat for Steve Cotterill but a first win for new Spurs Head Coach Martin Jol just a day after he had landed the job on a permanent basis.
Apparently we were hit by the best Spurs performance for some weeks as Jol made changes, particularly in midfield.
“It was a very important win for the club and the Carling Cup is very important to us,” said Jol after the game. “The players did well and, I think you could see in the second half, our confidence came back and we played better than we have over the last weeks.
“I am very happy with it and we have good players. The fans liked the way we played in the second half, but for the first twenty-five minutes we were a bit sloppy and gave away chances. Our keeper was terrific.
“We have been under pressure as a club. We have to go on, Jacques Santini has left, he did a terrific job here and I feel we can do a good job in the future.”
He then had special praise for his new look midfield which saw Michael Carrick make his first start for Spurs.
“Reto Ziegler, at just eighteen, played very well on the left side and I thought Pedro Mendes did well on the right. Michael Carrick had a good game and we can build on that.
“We have terrific strikers that need the service. A lot of goals come from crosses and we have to work on that now.”
Despite the defeat Steve Cotterill couldn’t speak highly enough of his players and what they had given on the night.
“We’ve given it everything,” he said. “I’m very proud of them because what they’ve given to Burnley Football Club this season is nothing short of fantastic.
“Under the circumstances we played very well. We had five good chances in the first half and if one of those had gone in and we had got our noses in front, you never know what might have happened.
“In the end Spurs’ finishing was the difference, but I could have told everyone that before the game. They had Defoe and Keane and just for good measure they got to bring Kanoute on, that was handy.”
It wasn’t just about the missing players though, others shouldn’t have been involved and the manager added, “Graham Branch hadn’t been well in the night, but he wanted to play so we went with him whilst Jean-Louis Valois wasn’t ready to play from the start and wasn’t fit to finish the game, so we had to take him off too.”
Admitting that we were probably best out of the competition so the players can have a rest he said, “We’ll carry on working and look to get the six or seven back and also look forward to Saturday football again.
“We have to steady the ship a little bit now because we have been in rough waters for six weeks. It has been coming and it is tough keep patching the lads up and sending them back out. They just cannot keep doing it when they are up against it.”