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Tottenham's Vorm gets Pochettino backing after Cup howler

LONDON (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur's Michel Vorm is set to retain his place in goal for their Capital One Cup semi-final second leg with Sheffield United on Wednesday despite his howler in their FA Cup exit on Saturday.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino gave Vorm his full backing on Tuesday ahead of the last-four clash after his mistake gifted Leicester City a surprise 2-1 away win in the FA Cup.

The Dutchman let a tame effort from Jeffrey Schlupp squirm past him and into the net in the 90th minute.

"This is football. He made two big saves against Leicester. His attitude is fantastic and nothing has changed. In one action he conceded a goal," Pochettino told reporters.

"He made a mistake. Every player can make a mistake, we must give him support and confidence.

"I think it should be normal to play Michel. This is football. All games are important. He had a good performance (against Leicester)."

Tottenham lead 1-0 after the first leg at White Hart Lane but will hope to improve on their tame home performance against the third tier side.

"I think the pressure is the same as it was in the home game," Pochettino said.

"We want to get to the final. But after the first leg we need to be careful. Though we need to play freely. We need to score.

"We need to be 100 percent focused. Our fans expect us to arrive in the final at Wembley. But we need to play better than Sheffield, show more energy than Sheffield and try to fight.

"For me we need to go there thinking it is 0-0. I believe we will need to score. We have to forget about the first leg and show the mentality to win.

"When I speak about being more aggressive it is in the right way. We need to fight to get on the ball and instil our game."

(Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Justin Palmer)