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Wilder hails Middlesbrough players for Spurs FA Cup shock: They thrived off the crowd

Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder was proud of his players after their 1-0 FA Cup win against Tottenham.

Academy striker Josh Coburn came off the bench to net the winner in extra-time as Boro beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in a magical evening at a sold-out Riverside Stadium.

In the largest crowd on Teesside for the stadium, Boro sent their fans home happy, with Wilder feeling his side more than deserved their victory.

He said: “I'm very proud of the performance of everybody.

“I thought the energy from the crowd was outstanding - my first experience of a packed Riverside. It was amazing.

“And I thought we rose to the occasion.

“I was very critical of the side, especially over the last two away games. We gave ourselves mountains to climb.

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“We had to put our bodies on the line tonight and whether it was in the structure or as an individual, the general attitude to defend properly gave ourselves a platform in the game to go and play our stuff.

“I was delighted with that other side of it. I'm an honest manager in terms of my assessment of a game, and I'd have been a very disappointed manager had we not won that game tonight because I thought we did more than enough to win against a top side."

Spurs boss Antonio Conte fielded the same 11 that beat Leeds United 4-0 on Saturday, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min among the starters for the visitors.

Wilder continued: “They came here to win, and Manchester United too.

“They missed some chances at Old Trafford and didn't put us to bed.

“But I thought tonight it was much more even, maybe that's with us being at home and the backing we had.

“But it was a full-hit Spurs team and you recognise at this stage of the competition the big teams want to go on and win it, so to turn over one of the favourites is a brilliant achievement."

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