Redknapp admits Tottenham lucky to see off Watford

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp admits they were lucky with their FA Cup win over Watford.

They won without the injured Gareth Bale thanks to Rafael van der Vaart's 42nd-minute strike — one of just six efforts created by out-of-sorts Spurs, compared to 19 for the Hornets.

And Harry Redknapp said: "It's better to be lucky than good. We were lucky, we weren't good, normally we are good.

"That was not the Tottenham team I see every week. We didn't play well. We were poor, unbelievable. Credit to Watford, they were fantastic, absolutely brilliant.

"They played, worked balls into frontmen, John Eustace ran the game – he was outstanding. They were top class.

"Why? I don't know why, I don't know what was wrong with us. We just never got hold of the ball. The doctor only told me after I picked the team that Luka Modric was not well for three days, I thought, 'Thanks for telling me now!'

"He was off-colour. We were all off-colour really.

"Sometimes you need a bit of luck and we got it. When I was at Portsmouth we went to Preston and got battered but scored in the 90th minute, and then went on to win the Cup.

"Full credit to Watford, they played and passed it, worked their socks off and did everything but score."