Dele Alli Says Tottenham 'Deserve a Trophy' After FA Cup Replay Win

Dele Alli has said Tottenham Hotspur deserve to win a trophy after being one of the best teams in the world over the past few seasons. 

The north London outfit scraped through to the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday by beating Southampton 3-2 in their fourth-round replay.

Goals from Shane Long and Danny Ings had put the visitors ahead deep into the second half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but late strikes from Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son put Spurs through to the last 16 to face Norwich City:

That is a fixture they should win, especially at home. Spurs are consequently among the favourites to go all the way this year in the world's oldest football tournament.

Despite the huge improvement Tottenham made under Mauricio Pochettino in recent seasons, they are still without a major trophy since their League Cup win in 2007-08.

Alli told BT Sport after the Saints win that they deserve to break that drought, but he acknowledged there is a lot of work for Spurs still to do:

"It has been a long time coming; we've been so close. We've showed we're one of the best teams, not just in England but in the world, throughout the years we've been together. I think we deserve a trophy, but no one's going to give it to us. We have to fight every day. We have to keep pushing each other, keep improving. Not just for us, but for the fans; we have to win something."

Pochettino took over Spurs in May 2014. In his first season in charge, Spurs finished fifth in the Premier League and reached the final of the League Cup, where they were beaten by Chelsea.

The Argentinian then oversaw four consecutive top-four finishes in the English top flight—more than Spurs had in the previous 28 seasons—and led them to the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League final, where they lost to Liverpool.

After a poor start to this campaign, Pochettino was sacked in November and replaced with Jose Mourinho, who has led Spurs back to within touching distance of the top four:

It would be typical of the Portuguese to eclipse Pochettino inside a matter of months by leading Spurs to a first trophy in more than a decade. But they will not have an easy run.

All of the so-called big six remain in the tournament, and Tottenham are unlikely to avoid a meeting with one or two of them if they continue to advance:

Meanwhile, the likes of Leicester City, Sheffield United and Newcastle United could all be dangerous in future rounds.