Thrilled Hammers boss Sam Allardyce explained the philosophy behind a great Hammers Capital One Cup victory at White Hart Lane .

He said: “As the game wore on both teams had to go for it. Neither of us wanted it to go into extra-time.

“It is what you can do when the spaces get bigger and bigger. We improved after Emmanuel Adebayor’s goal.

“We saw the shaken nerve ends of Tottenham when we scored. We then went for the jugular. Our substitutes, who came on with fresh legs, exploited the spaces.”