Spurs upbeat despite stalemate

Harry Redknapp is confident his Tottenham Hotspur side can go on to lift the FA Cup despite being held to a goalless draw away to League One Stevenage in the fifth round on Sunday.

The winner of the White Hart Lane replay will face Bolton Wanderers at home in a competition that has already seen Manchester United, Manchester City, the holder, and Arsenal eliminated

Redknapp knows 'smaller' clubs rarely go all the way, although he conceded third-tier Stevenage, who is now the lowest-ranked club left in the Cup, was more than worthy of being in the quarterfinal draw.

"It's a good draw for the winners," he said. "It's a home draw and you can't ask for anything more than that. Chelsea had a good draw too, at home to Birmingham, and Liverpool are at home (against Stoke) too.

"Usually the Cup ends up with a big club winning it. In the last few years it has been one of the top four who have won it," said Redknapp, who bucked that trend when he led Portsmouth to FA Cup glory in 2008.

Louis Saha saw a goal disallowed for offside in the 55th minute because it hit team-mate Scott Parker just before it crossed the line, but Tottenham did not create many other chances.

"I expected it to be tough and it was," said Redknapp, who has guided Spurs to third place in the Premier League.

"The pitch was bumpy and the ball was bobbling everywhere. I have been in the same situation so many times in the past so nothing surprised me.

"We started lumping it, which wasn't part of the plan. The lads weren't that comfortable passing the ball on it and we ended up going long, which wasn't what we wanted to do. They pressed us and made it hard for us."

Agence France-Presse