Son knows he ´needed the goals´ after hitting a double against Preston

Son Heung-min welcomed his return to goalscoring form after hitting a brace in Tottenham’s FA Cup victory at Preston North End.

A second-half double in Saturday’s 3-0 victory brought an end to a barren run for Son, who had scored just once in 13 appearances.

Spurs had struggled during that stretch, falling behind in the hunt for a top-four finish in the Premier League and seeing speculation mount over the future of Antonio Conte.

An FA Cup trip to Deepdale offered a break from that pressure, however, and Son flourished leading the line.

Back amongst the goals, Son feels the result can provide a boost ahead of next Sunday’s league showdown against Manchester City.

“I needed the goals for my confidence. It was really important, they were from the kind of positions where I like to shoot,” he told BBC Sport.

“In the first half I had a couple of chances, they were on target and the keeper made a good save. The second half, they went in.

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“The goals were needed, as an attacking player you always need goals, it doesn’t matter how good you are playing or how bad you are playing.

“The most important thing is to get that goal. I think today it was important that I could help the team and get into the next round, I’m very happy.

“When you look at the scoresheet, it looks like a comfortable win but the FA Cup has never been comfortable. We suffered a lot away from home, the lads did an amazing job.

“There’s a lot of talk about our performances and how we are playing. We are focused, we’re doing what we have to do and we know what we have to improve.

“We have so much space to improve, so this game could bring us some really good energy for next weekend.”

Son’s goals were his first in the FA Cup since he netted against Southampton in February 2020. Indeed, each of his last four strikes in the competition have come in the fourth round.

Spurs, meanwhile, have now progressed beyond the fourth round for a fourth straight season, their longest such run in the FA Cup since 1979 to 1983, though they have been knocked out in the fifth round in the previous three campaigns.

Harry Kane remained on the bench on Saturday – it was the first time he has not featured in a Tottenham game since October 2021, ending a run of 68 successive appearances.