NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 15- Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama has said he had to run to the bench after scoring Spurs’ third goal in their 3-0 result against Hull City on Wednesday to ‘tell them off’ after being given a stick for missing a huge chance in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United last weekend.
The Harambee Stars skipper netted the third goal for Spurs after hitting the rebound off a Cristian Eriksen free-kick, his second since joining the North London club from Southampton in the summer.
“I have been having a tough week; it started against Swansea then the chance at United. The staff has been telling me there’s no point going to the goal because I keep on passing to the keeper and not scoring,” Wanyama told Spurs’ official TV channel after the Hull match.
“It really was in my heart and I said from this week I will be staying on in training to do my finishing and prove them wrong. Today I was at the right place and I managed to score and I went on the bench to tell them off,” Wanyama added with a cheeky smile on his face.
He says the missed chance at Old Trafford still haunts him especially with his side having been a goal down.
“I don’t want to see it (the replay) again. I did everything right, but I headed the ball with my face. That should have been a goal. I was really disappointed I couldn’t score that. But the goal against Hull gives me confidence to step up and continue,” the midfielder said.
His coach Mauricio Pochettino said he was also impressed with the Kenyan’s response after the Old Trafford miss.
“Yes, in a funny way we’ve killed him a little bit, but in the same way we said ‘okay, in the next game you must score, you need to score’.
“He came to the bench with Jesus, Toni and Miguel and it’s important for the player. It was funny and I’m happy, the third goal helped us to be more comfortable in the game and end with a good feeling.” Pochettino told Spurs TV after the win.
Spurs will be at home to Burnley this weekend and Wanyama believes that it will be a tight fixture against the Clarets and only hopes his side can pick up from the midweek win and keep their positive momentum.
“These are the tough teams to play against. They try to stop you from everything but hopefully come Sunday we will continue from where we have left, play like this and come out with three points,” Wanyama added.