‘We want to compete for all honours’ – Spurs boss Ho keen for FA Cup success | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Martin Ho says that his side want to compete strongly in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup this season and he will therefore be fielding a strong XI against Leicester City this afternoon.

Spurs play host to The Foxes at the BetWright Stadium in the fourth round of the competition.

Ho was an Adobe Women’s FA Cup winner with former club Manchester United in 2024 and he is keen to enjoy more FA Cup magic with Spurs this season.

“It means a lot,” Ho said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “It’s a prestigious competition, an amazing competition that I was lucky enough to get to a final with at Manchester United at Wembley. Those are the moments that you want to be part of as a coach and a club. The players definitely want to be a part of that.

“I take every game seriously. I don’t see any of these cup competitions as ones where we will rotate for the sake of it. We go into the game with the strongest team to be competitive and we want to compete for all honours.”

Spurs also faced Leicester City on home soil in the Barclays Women’s Super League last weekend and ran out 1-0 winners. Ho said that he learnt a lot about both sides in that game.

He said “We need to get into a rhythm a little bit quicker, we need to be more ruthless in the mid-to-attacking third and we need to strengthen relationships between the players who were here [previously] and new ones that have come in to make us more efficient.

“I learnt a lot about Leicester. They’re resilient, hard to play against, good with the ball, very direct with their attacks. I also learned a lot about us in terms of what we’ve done since we’ve come back in and where we need to go. 

“We’ve definitely got steps to take with the ball, off the ball; there were a lot of aspects where we were too loose defensively, we gave them too much time and too many areas to attack. We need to get back to that team that’s hard to beat; being organised, efficient but making sure we defend on the front-foot.”

Spurs came up against former defender Ashleigh Neville last time out. This weekend sees the return of former Spurs forward Rachel Williams, a player who Ho worked with at Manchester United. The Spurs boss has nothing but kind words to say about the 38-year-old.

He said “I don’t have a bad word to say about her. She’s a wonderful person and a super professional. Her attitude, commitment, the way that she supports and channels younger players in their development [is impressive]. She’s been a pioneer of the game for so long and is well-recognised in women’s football.

“She still has a lot to offer as a player. Physically, she’s very good, probably the best player I’ve ever worked with in the box with her head in terms of that desire and passion to get on the ball. Her aggression off the ball, her physicality, her game craft and her understanding and smartness around the game is very high.

“It’s a wonderful move for her and a wonderful addition to Leicester’s squad. She will cause teams a lot of problems. I have wonderful things to say about her. She was outstanding in the time I was at Manchester United and I can’t speak any more highly of her.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Leicester City kicks-off at 12pm. Tickets will be available to purchase at the BetWright Stadium this afternoon.