Ange Postecoglou praised his Tottenham players for "staying calm and being persistent" during their FA Cup scare against non-league Tamworth.

Spurs were taken all the way to extra-time by their spirited National League opponents, who held out for a goalless draw after 90 minutes at the Lamb Ground.

However, the Premier League side's qualities eventually shone through. 

Nathan Tshikuna's unfortunate own-goal broke the deadlock, while Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson eventually put the tie beyond Tamworth.

And Postecoglou was pleased by the attitude of his players in testing circumstances.

"It was a challenging game as we expected it to be," he told ITV. "They made it hard for us. With the surface, it was about us staying calm and being persistent in our football. In the end, we got the job done.

"We knew we would finish strong, and you could see they were tiring a bit [heading into extra-time]. It's a game of football you go into it with trepidation, and knowing you can slip up with the challenges.

"[In] most parts, the boys kept their heads. I thought they stayed calm and persisted and got through.

"We are through to the next round and that was the objective for today. Tamworth did really well and should be proud of their efforts. For us, we move on."

Meanwhile, defender Archie Gray acknowledged Tottenham got the job done "the hard way".

"I think the most important thing is we got the win," he added. "Credit to them, they took us to extra-time being where they are in the league, and credit to them. We were not good enough for 90 minutes - quite a few of us were not at the races today.

"We have all played on these pitches when we were younger, so it is not different for us. Sometimes in football, it happens, these games are not going to be easy - the fans were brilliant.

"The quality shone through in the last 15 minutes. Our fitness showed and nothing to take away from them for what they did in 90 minutes.

"This is what the FA Cup is all about. Getting to see all the clubs in English football - it is nice, and the fans were brilliant. It was tough, but I enjoyed every minute of it. We like to do it the hard way."