Mauricio Pochettino defends misfiring Roberto Soldado

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has leapt to the defence of misfiring Roberto Soldado following his performance in Wednesday's 4-2 win over Burnley at White Hart Lane.

The Spaniard managed to hit the bar from point-blank range in last night's FA Cup third-round replay as the £26m striker's goalscoring woes continued.

Scoring would have levelled up the clash at 2-2, after the Clarets stormed into a 2-0 lead inside eight minutes, but Pochettino says that he was happy with his all-round contribution.

"He knows that we support him," he told The Mirror.

"It is always tough for a striker when he doesn't score, but I am very happy with his performance."

Soldado has netted seven Premier League goals since securing his big-money switch to North London from Valencia 19 months ago.

First-half goals from Paulinho and Etienne Capoue cancelled out early efforts from Marvin Sordell and Ross Wallace, while Vlad Chiriches and Danny Rose sealed the win after the break.