FAC: Tottenham v Rochdale preview

Tottenham v Rochdale preview

Rochdale will enjoy one of the biggest nights in their history when they travel to Wembley Stadium to play Tottenham in an FA Cup fifth-round replay.

Steve Davies scored a dramatic injury-time equaliser in the original tie at Spotland on February 18 to earn the League One club a replay against the Premier League giants at the national stadium on Wednesday evening.

Ian Henderson had given Rochdale the lead in that match, but Spurs equalised through Lucas Moura before Harry Kane's 88th-minute penalty appeared to earn a quarter-final spot.

 

But Davies' fine late finish means that the club 10 points adrift of safety at the foot of League One have another chance to pull off a shock - and boss Keith Hill is focused on victory.

 

"They are one of the standout sides in the Premier League," he said. "They are quite special, they can attack you from every angle. You have to be at your best defensively for 95 minutes.

 

"But we have done our due diligence on Tottenham. We have got to focus on our own game plan and not get carried away with the occasion or the trip and focus on the processes we have to go through. We have to be better than we were against Tottenham a week ago."

It will be another midweek game for Spurs following their late 1-0 win against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday, and manager Mauricio Pochettino has said he will make changes to the starting XI.

 

"We are going to rotate some players to give [them] the possibility to play. They are in a good level and then we are going to play again on Saturday," he said.

"We are very busy with the fixtures but that is why we need all involved, to be fit and to be part of the situation. In the games they have the possibility to show their quality."

 

Rochdale will have a reduced squad as some loan players are cup-tied, although Dan Adshead, Aaron Morley and Matty Gillam will be involved.

However, Calvin Andrew will definitely miss out having not recovered from an injury and Rochdale are likely to have the same squad that secured a draw at Spotland.

 

Tottenham defenders Toby Alderweireld (hamstring) and Jan Vertonghen (ankle) will both miss the match, although their absences are expected to be short-term.

Michel Vorm returns in goal while Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose, Harry Winks and Heung-Min Son are also set to start.