Harry Redknapp has called on his injury-hit Tottenham squad to step up and prove they are the real deal by beating Chelsea on Sunday to move one step closer to lifting their first FA Cup in 21 years.
Redknapp's current crop have spent the best part of this season being compared to the great Spurs teams of the past - most notably the one that triumphed in the FA Cup in 1991, and the team that won the double 30 years before.
"This is a great opportunity for us to go all the way this year," Redknapp said. "On our day we can beat Chelsea. We can beat anyone."
An 11-match unbeaten run at the end of 2011 left many tipping Redknapp's squad for silverware, but their season has imploded since February and they have won just one Barclays Premier League game in eight.
Since 1991 Spurs have won two League Cups while Chelsea and Arsenal have dominated the scene in London - with the Blues winning 11 trophies - and Redknapp thinks it is time Tottenham proved they are big hitters again by lifting the FA Cup this season.
"Tottenham is a club that have won two trophies since 1991 and they were both Carling Cups so it's about time Tottenham won another trophy," he said.
Tottenham's hopes of victory have been dented by an injury crisis, however. Redknapp has revealed that he is likely to field Ryan Nelsen and William Gallas at the back after Younes Kaboul joined Michael Dawson on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury.
Ledley King's chronic knee problem means he is unlikely to play after starting against Norwich on Monday while midfielder Niko Kranjcar is also out after suffering a knee injury in midweek.
Having being on the verge of going 13 points clear of Arsenal in February, many Tottenham fans are worried that their campaign is going to end with a whimper, but Redknapp disagrees and claims expectations have risen to astronomical levels since the start of the season.
"If we'd come from nowhere and suddenly moved into fourth, we'd all be going, 'great'. But I'd have taken this position at the start of the year for sure," he said.
Source: PA
