Mauricio Pochettino reacts to Fernando Llorente’s wasteful display against Newport County

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Tottenham Hotspur beat Newport County 2-0 in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has told Football.London that striker Fernando Llorente missed a great opportunity to find the net against Newport County.

Spurs were back in FA Cup action on Wednesday night, as they took on League Two side Newport at Wembley Stadium in a fourth round replay, having drawn their first game 0-0 last month.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men coasted through, as Dan Butler’s own goal from a Moussa Sissoko cross set Tottenham on their way, and Erik Lamela added a second before the break.

However, Spurs squandered a whole host of chances to make the scoreline even more convincing, with striker Fernando Llorente particularly guilty.

The Spaniard headed wide from a Lamela cross before volleying Christian Eriksen’s cross wide minutes later, as his disappointing season took another frustrating turn.

A summer signing from Swansea City, Llorente has scored just twice for Spurs in all competitions this season, and has regularly looked cumbersome when given a chance in the Spurs side.

Manager Pochettino will have hoped to see Llorente thrive against lower league opposition, but he saw the 32-year-old struggle once again, leading to questions about his role.

Pochettino spoke to Football.London after the game, and suggested that Llorente did miss his opportunity to find the net, but noted that it’s tough for all players to nail down a first-team spot, and isn’t worried about one player.

“Always a negative question, always. Yes I am worried, so worried, so worried,” joked Pochettino. “I think today is the FA Cup. If you don’t win, you should be worried about the performance. But when you win and you miss the chance to score and feel better and increase your level. It was a great opportunity for Fernando today to score and he missed.”

“He had the chance to score but you know now we have 24 players and it will be tough to find a place in the starting XI for everyone. Who is playing more? Who is playing less? 24 players all trying to get a start in every single game. I think it’s a very good thing for us. We are going to increase our level and in that very busy period we need all focus on trying to give their best,” he added.