Van Gaal hails United’s spirit level

Louis van Gaal hailed the spirit of his Manchester United side after they came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw in their FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham.

United’s troubled campaign looked to have taken another turn for the worse as Dimitri Payet put the visitors on course for a Wembley semi-final with a stunning free-kick at Old Trafford.

But, unlike in recent defeats to West Brom and Liverpool, United were able to find a response and Anthony Martial’s 83rd-minute equaliser ensured a replay at Upton Park. Van Gaal said: “For the first 15 minutes I think West Ham were the better team and they created a few chances, but after that we came back into the match.

“We have created chances and in the second half we were the better team.

“We have played against West Brom and lost, and Liverpool and lost this week, and when you come back from that I think it is amazing, and fantastic spirit in the team, in spite of a very nasty week.

“I am very proud of my players. We are still in three competitions.” MAURICIO POCHETTINO encouraged Spurs supporters to dream of Barclays Premier League glory after his side’s 2-0 victory at Aston Villa, but warned there was plenty of hard work still ahead for his team.

Harry Kane opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time and wrapped up the points early in the second half to move Tottenham two points behind leaders Leicester, who host Newcastle tonight.

The result boosted the north London side’s hopes of a first top-flight title since 1961 but, with just eight games still to play, Pochettino was not getting carried away.

“Our supporters are right to dream and we need to dream, but keep working hard because that’s the most important thing,” the Argentinian said. “We are in a good position but there’s eight games and 24 points still to play for. It’s a lot of points, still.

“We are in the race and this [win] has been important. If we compare last season with this season, we need to feel very proud and maybe we are ahead of our plan. We will try to win each game and see what happens.”

Tottenham’s win in the midlands was their first this month, having lost at West Ham and drawn with 10-man Arsenal before going down 3-0 at Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League.

Pochettino’s line-up changes in Germany on Thursday evening suggested he was prioritising the title push, and victory over Villa will have gone some way to justifying that.

With Manchester City dropping points in a goalless draw at Norwich on Saturday, the top two are now firmly in charge, but the Spurs manager has refused to rule out any side yet.

“I think that mathematically, it is possible for a lot of teams still,” Pochettino said. “It’s too early to put some teams out of the race. We needed to keep the pressure on Leicester, so it was a very important victory for us. I was very pleased with the effort.”