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Pochettino sorry for Soldado

Cape Town - Tottenham won their FA Cup third round replay against Burnley 4-2, but it could have been more had Roberto Soldado put away a simple chance.

Despite the miss, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is not angry with the profligate Spaniard.

Burnley took a two goal lead through Marvin Sordell and Ross Wallace within eight minutes, but Paulinho, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches, and Danny rose all scored for Spurs to give them a 5-3 aggregate victory after the 1-1 stalemate in the first leg.

Soldado was heavily involved in the action, grabbing two assists and getting a deflection to help Wallace's free kick past Vorm. But he will probably only remember hitting the crossbar from close range after Andros Townsend gave him a great opportunity to bag his fourth goal of the season.

Although the Spanish striker has been overshadowed by local lad Harry Kane's breakthrough season, Pochettino says the former Valencia player shouldn't feel that he is letting his team down.

"In football you don't need to apologise, because we are sorry for him because I think he deserved a goal," Football411 quotes Mauricio as saying. "But in football the actions, maybe it's difficult to explain, but I am happy with his performance and his attitude on the pitch.

"All he needs to do is to try to be the best he can in every training session, and the goals will arrive. Always it's a tough period for a striker when he doesn't score, but I am very happy with his performance, and he knows that we support him.

"We can talk about different things but for me the most important thing is that he always fights and tries to do his best. His attitude was perfect; he was only missing a goal. But in football when you work hard, when you try every day and try to give your best, always rewards arrive."

The win at White Hart Lane means Spurs will face Leicester City in the fourth round on the 24th, and will be back in Premier League action this Saturday against Sunderland.
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