By Emma Smith.
Two excellent strikes by Son Heung-min and a debut goal for Arnaut Danjuma were enough to beat Preston and send Tottenham through in the FA Cup.
Spurs were frustrated by their Championship opponents until the 50th minute, when Son let fly from 30 yards.
The South Korea international then turned and finished smartly to double the lead amid torrential rain.
Danjuma, signed on loan from Villarreal this week, completed the scoring after coming on as a late substitute.
Antonio Conte’s side go into the draw for the fifth round, which takes place on Monday evening.
Spurs splutter into life at hard-working Preston
Conte made seven changes to the Spurs starting XI which beat Fulham 1-0 in the Premier League on Monday, including leaving Harry Kane on the bench.
Kane is aiming to become Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer and is level with Jimmy Greaves on 266 goals but had been struggling with illness this week, missing training on Wednesday and Thursday.
Alongside him on the bench was new signing Danjuma, but the Spurs side still contained first-teamers such as Son and Dejan Kulusevski – and they started the game on the front foot.
Kulusevski had a shot brilliantly blocked by midfielder Ryan Ledson while home goalkeeper Freddie Woodman made two fine saves from long-range Son efforts.
They had more than three quarters of the possession in the opening 20 minutes, however Preston grew into the game and began to restrict Spurs as the game wore on.
A three-man midfield of Ledson, Ben Whiteman and Ali McCann gave Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma little time or space to create, as Spurs looked increasingly blunt without their captain who had scored 14 goals in his last 14 appearances.
Son quality proves the difference
It took until the opening minutes of the second half for Preston’s resolve to be broken, with Son pulling out a moment of quality to remind fans why he was the Premier League golden boot winner last season.
His seventh of this campaign was arguably his best, as he found space 30 yards out before curling an unstoppable strike past Woodman.
Preston raised their game after falling behind, and gave Spurs a much tougher test than when they last met – a 5-1 defeat in a 2009 EFL Cup meeting.
Son then killed the game after 69 minutes, spinning off Jordan Storey after receiving an Ivan Perisic pass and firing past Woodman.
Conte was then able to switch up his squad, including giving a debut to Danjuma – while Kane was able to remain an unused sub.
And Danjuma, who signed for Spurs having appeared to be on the verge of joining Everton, scored 15 minutes into his first appearance as he turned in a low Kulusevski cross before celebrating with the away fans.