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Harry Winks: Tottenham's Wembley atmosphere is not the same as at White Hart Lane

Narrow win: Winks helped Tottenham edge past Barnsley in front of 24,000 fans: Getty Images
Narrow win: Winks helped Tottenham edge past Barnsley in front of 24,000 fans: Getty Images

Tottenham's Harry Winks has admitted that the atmosphere at Wembley was flat for Tuesday night's 1-0 win over Barnsley in the EFL Cup Third Round.

Spurs offered tickets for £10 and concessions for as little as £5 for their third match in six days at Wembley, but there were just 23,926 at the 90,000-seater national stadium for the narrow victory, settled by Dele Alli's 65th-minute goal.

The attendance was lower than for Spurs' pre-season friendly with Juventus, which attracted 26,251, but similar to the crowd at White Hart Lane for last season's League Cup third round win over Gillingham – 26,244.

At least 16 competitive games have drawn a smaller crowd to the national stadium since it opened in 2007, including the National League and League Two Play-Offs.

Winks, who started for the first time in six months, admitted that cavernous Wembley did not feel the same as Spurs' compact former home.

"It’s just the size of the stadium – it’s difficult to really get that same atmosphere that you got at White Hart Lane or if you have a full stadium here," the midfielder said. "But the fans are always excellent and they were brilliant in getting us over the line."

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said he understood the low attendance, which was partly the result of the club's decision not to include the match in this year's season ticket package, unlike last year's League Cup third round.

"I understand [the attendance]," Pochettino said. "I'd like to say thank you to all the fans that were here. Maybe it wasn't possible for others to come. I understand that it's so difficult for the fans sometimes to come to every single game. I know they are behind us and translate their support. There's more nothing to say."

The attendance was the lowest for a men's match at the new Wembley, excluding the FA Trophy and FA Vase finals, but Spurs have an exclusive contract with the FA to play all of this season's home matches at the national stadium, regardless of the draws in the domestic cups.

Winks, who completed 90 minutes, says he is finally pain-free after skipping international duty earlier this month to focus on recovering from a long-term ankle problem.

"I feel like I’m 100% now," he said. "It was a perfect opportunity to put everything behind me, move on and start the season from now.

"I’ve been playing with a little bit of a niggle here and there. In the last week-and-a-half or two weeks, it really started to get back to normal and I’m delighted with that. I got pulled out of the England U21 squad to try and get it right. I got some advice from some specialists and since then it’s really started to progress and I’m really happy with that.

"It’s difficult when you’re playing at 70% in training and you know you’re really giving it everything you can but there's a little bit of pain, which is frustrating. But it’s football. Luckily enough I can say – touch wood – that everything’s ok now and it’s really feeling good and I’m feeling confident and strong."