Presser Points | Chelsea vs Spurs, Women's FA Cup | Martin Ho

Martin Ho spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Thursday afternoon, ahead of our Adobe Women’s FA Cup quarter-final tie against Chelsea at Kingsmeadow on Monday (1.30pm UK).

Here are some key points on what he had to say…

Martin on how much confidence the squad gets from reaching the latter stages of the FA Cup…

“I think, in the competition, we've done well. You have to play the top teams if you want to win the competition. I think we had a good run, the last game was a very good one for the neutral, definitely. Going to extra time, going to penalties and then showing a really strong mentality in that game. We know that this test against Chelsea is going to be tough, but we know that in the games we've played against them this season, they've been really tight. We've had numerous opportunities, we've controlled parts of those games. We need to go in with the confidence there.”

Martin was asked whether there’s something to take advantage of Chelsea’s early exit in the Champions League…

“They've just come off the back of being knocked out of the Champions League over two legs. I think they performed really well in both of them, but they're still a wonderful team. They'll probably want to respond in the right way and Sonia [Bompastor] will want her players to respond in the right way. We have to be prepared that there are going to be moments where we're going to have to suffer and we will, and then there's going to be moments where we have the ball, but when we have that, do we have quality in those moments that we can show what we're capable of, and I think we've done that really, really well in the last game when we played them at home.”

Martin on how the international break affects him and the team…

“We'll still have a group of players training here. We'll have a lot of players away on international, like we did on the last break, so you're away from the group and maybe you lose a little bit of rhythm, a bit of continuity around the pitch because they go away with the different nations and play different ways. Yes, sometimes it's tough, don't get me wrong, because you want a continuity and a consistency with it. But also, that's part and parcel of the programme, and what we have to do is not find any excuses with it but to try and find solutions of how we can best prepare the players when they come back.”

Martin on how important it would be heading into the international break on the back of a potential win in the FA Cup…

“Huge - and that's the ambition, that's the drive and that's the focus of the team. Have we been happy with parts of our performances in the last games? No. Have we been happy with some of it? Yes, because I think there's spells and there's progress that we've made. But we go into this game with the belief and confidence that we can get to a semi-final, with the belief and confidence that we can progress forward and compete against Chelsea, which we've shown in our games that we can when we're at it. We'll make sure we're at it going into the weekend.”

Martin on whether a win would be a big statement for the Club…

“It's shown it's capable of taking that next step and keeping that progress going for the rest of the season and beyond. I don't think we need it. We should want it more than just needing it. We should want to win those games. I have no doubt we want to win the game, but we don't go into it thinking we need to do this and add more pressure than we need to. I think when we play with freedom and we play our way and we do things the way we want to do it and focus on us, then I think we perform at a really high level. But we have to make sure that we know that in these games we need to lift our performances if we want to get over the line. There's no bigger test than Chelsea, so we've got to make sure we're really at it come Monday.”

Martin on Chelsea’s season so far and their difficult run of form in recent weeks…

“They don't become a bad team because they’re not top of the WSL. Look how many seasons they've won the league consistently, then the Champions League and [progressing to] latter stages. They've only won one cup this year and they're still in the run for the FA Cup. So, under no illusions, they're a good team and every team can have its season where maybe they're not completely at it. Chelsea are in a bit of that transition, maybe if you want to say. New manager, new players and they're trying to find their way with it, but they're still a wonderful team. They've got world class players, a world class manager. If you're having a bad season and you're still sitting in the top two of the WSL, I don't think it's too bad. If that's a bad season, I would take it. So, yeah, they're in a good place and they're a wonderful team. We know what they're capable of doing, they're serial winners.”

Martin on how it has been in the last few games in the Women’s Super League…

“It's difficult, don't get me wrong. I don't doubt what I'm doing or doubt what we're doing but you become frustrated and maybe doubted at times in terms of am I doing something wrong? Can I be doing something different to make sure that we can get over the line? But I'm under no illusions in terms of the progress we've made and what we've delivered this season. When we come into these games, we know they're going to be tough, we know the sides we're up against and we know we've got a lot of work to do to get to that level of where they're at. We've got work to do, we want to be competing at that top level. But what you shouldn't shy away from, if you won't, is making sure we're competitive in games and we're building on those performances."

Martin on the importance of developing Academy players as our Under-19s face London Bees in the quarter-final of the Capital Cup on Thursday night...

“We have young players training with us from the Under-19s regularly, so the youth development here is a really big ethos of the club, to develop your own players and make sure we have an Academy that produces a pathway and a conveyor belt of talent for the Women's First team - and the same for the Men's and Academy teams too. We need to make sure we continue to build on that. Yeah, we've got some wonderful, talented players and they deservedly should be in that position after the performances they've had. Yeah, I wish them all the best with their game, and I have no doubts they should get through.”

Martin on what the FA Cup means to him…

“It's the most prestigious competition in England. A cup competition that you play at Wembley as a final, who doesn't want to play there as a coach, as a player, and as a club, so you want to make sure you can get to those finals. They've [Spurs] been there before, so they know what it feels like to be there as a team and as a club, so we need to make sure we can give the fans and the club more days like that. We've got a task in front of us now in Chelsea and we have to make sure that if we want to get there, you have to beat these teams.”

Martin on what he enjoys most about watching his team…

“More the desire, the passion they play with, the enthusiasm for the growth and development of the team, and then furthermore seeing players play with a smile on their face and play with freedom. Then, when we're performing and we know we're at our best, the energy and enthusiasm that gives not just the team, but gives the staff, the wider staffing group, the wider club. I get a lot of pride in watching the team play, they're playing a really brave way of football and a brave way of playing and when we do that, I think we're at our best.”

On what the main takeaways have been in the defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal…

“Lots of aspects, definitely with the ball especially. I think second half against Arsenal, even first half, we created moments. [In the] second half, we had some moments with the ball where we progressed well, but we just lacked maybe that cutting edge in front of goal and maybe the bravery to actually go and finish, go and take a little bit of responsibility. Then, the City game was the same, the second half against Manchester City, we created so many chances, pushed them back in their half, I think they only got out of it a handful of times, and then really defended well in that game. What we've got to make sure is we start games quicker than we have been but be better in terms of defending the box from set plays and that's an area we need to really push, which we spoke to the players about. We can take those lessons from those games; gives you experience and the best practice moving forward to tell you where you're at and where you need to go.”

Martin on the impact from Lize Kop in our last outing in the FA Cup and her involvement for the game against Chelsea…

“Hopefully she doesn't have to make any saves. If she doesn't have to make any, then we’ve defended well. But I think in the last game, she's done wonderfully well in the FA Cup; she made some big saves, she obviously made the saves for the penalty shootout win and she's made some big moments. If she is asked this game to step up and make big saves and moments, then I know Lize will do her best to do that, but hopefully she doesn't have to have too much work to do."

Martin on the mentality from the team with a big crowd expected at Kingsmeadow…

“We know what it's like, the fans are close to the pitch, it's hostile, they make a lot of noise, they back their team and they're the games you want to be part of. I want stadiums where we play to be full, I want them to have a good crowd, it adds more to the interest of the game, it adds more interest for us as a team and for Chelsea, and it spurs the players on when you've got so many people watching. It maybe adds that little bit of pressure that you know you've got to perform and I think at times when we've had that pressure, we've performed well. Hopefully lots turn out for the game and we can put on a good performance.”