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Tottenham assistant manager Cristian Stellini: FA Cup a trophy we want to win

Tottenham assistant manager Cristian Stellini says they're in the FA Cup to win it.

Spurs meet Portsmouth in the early kickoff today.

"First of all, I want to say that the FA Cup is a dream for us, for me," he said. "When I was a player I was not every time in the top league, so my dream was to see the FA Cup because it gave the possibility for a lower team to challenge and to win a trophy, a top trophy.

"In Italy we don't have a chance to do it and I didn't when I was a player, so it's a dream to me to learn from this type of situation in England.

"When I was a player, sometimes I had this possibility (to play a bigger team) and I know the desire of this type of team, Portsmouth tomorrow, Morecambe last season (we won 3-1 in the third round at home after trailing 1-0), and how important it is for them to play this type of match.

"So, we have to respect this and show our desire. For that reason, the FA Cup is an important trophy to try to win. We spoke about this a lot of times and every time we have to show our respect in the game.

"We've prepared this match like every other match. This is what the FA Cup is all about, playing a team from League One, they arrive with 9,000 fans, it's so exciting to play this type of match and we have to respect, for sure, the FA Cup, and a big team from League One like Portsmouth. We respect this trophy, and we respect this team."

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Paul Vegas

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