Tottenham were perilously close to slipping on an almighty banana skin before seeing off Tamworth in extra-time.

Enough was enough for Ange Postecoglou at the end of normal time, as Tamworth fans taunted his team with chants of: “How sh*t must you be, we're only part-time?”

Time to call on the cavalry - Heung-min Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Djed Spence - to ensure an uncomfortable afternoon ended with a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Spurs scraped through 3-0, courtesy of Nathan Tshikuna’s own goal and strikes from Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson.

But the journey that got them there was neither pretty nor straightforward against one of only two part-time sides in the National League.

In normal time, Tamworth were allowed to produce what one fan described as a typical performance from them.

Spurs struggled on the artificial surface, Pape Matar Sarr playing Radu Dragusin into trouble and 18-year-old Archie Gray passing into touch on a couple of occasions.

The Premier League side were stodgy, flat, and spent long spells looking completely out of ideas. Only as the clock reached 70 minutes did they begin to threaten more regularly, although the typically misfiring Timo Werner squandered a one-on-one by firing straight at the goalkeeper, and Mikey Moore and James Maddison were denied.

Kulusevski and Son did, to be fair, speed up Tottenham’s patterns of play in extra-time.

The opener came from quick-thinking from Pedro Porro, who slid a free-kick for Johnson to cross and the unlucky Tshikuna bundled the ball over his own line.

Kulusevski and Johnson arrowed into the net as extra-time wore on, adding daylight between the sides, but by now Tamworth looked spent.

Spurs teenager Moore was really bright in his first appearance since October following a viral illness, looking to run down the left channel at every opportunity. It said a lot that the Spurs fans booed when the teenager was substituted.

Tamworth had their chances, forcing goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky into some decent saves. Kinsky's distribution, like on debut against Liverpool in midweek, was faultless.

This was the first time a Spurs game had ended 0-0 after 90 minutes under Postecoglou - something you would have got decent odds to have predicted before the game.

Though they squirmed through to the fourth round in the end, it was one uncomfortable slog.