Of the seven teams who made seven or more changes for the FA Cup fourth round, only one of them is in the hat for Monday night’s draw.
Tottenham showed immense resilience to come from two goals down and then 3-2 down to claim a last-gasp 4-3 win against Wycome Wanderers.
It would have been an embarrassing way for Spurs to crash out of what could have been their last ever cup game at White Hart Lane, but the substitutions of Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele turned the game around.
Even so, the likes of Moussa Sissoko and Eric Dier should still have been able to put the game to bed against a League Two side.
With one eye on Tuesday’s game against Sunderland, Mauricio Pochettino made nine changes from the draw with Manchester City, but he has hinted he may have to think carefully about doing that in future after such a close shave.
“We will see (if we continue to rotate),” he said, quoted via the Evening Standard.
“It’s not clear. The first half was very difficult. We need to assess why and to analyse.
“If you play against Wycombe, a League Two club, it is true that is difficult because of their motivation and their excitement is massive.
“But I think we need to stop a little bit and say, ‘why not play one or another’? When you play Tottenham, you play Tottenham, and when you sign a player for your squad you need to be available to play and of enough quality to play in this type of game.”
Spurs haven’t won the FA Cup for 26 years and haven’t won a trophy of any description since the 2008 Carling Cup.
Yet, Pochettino insists that with a title challenge also on their hands, they can’t afford to always risk their best players in the cups.
“You need, and we need the fans need to understand, that we cannot always play the same team, the same 11 players, because they are not machines,” he added.
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