Woodgate: Cup final must be springboard

Tottenham defender Jonathan Woodgate has voiced concerns over the unfulfilled potential at his club after failing to build on last season's Carling Cup success - and wants his team-mates to show they have the bottle not to let it happen again.

Woodgate was the hero last season when he bundled in the winner against Chelsea at Wembley - but Spurs won only three more Premier League games until Juande Ramos was sacked and Harry Redknapp took over in October.

"Maybe, as a collective, we thought that winning the Carling Cup meant that we didn't have to push on," he said. "We knew that we were in Europe and we didn't play good football in that spell."

He added: "We can't let it happen this season. There's more pressure on us this year because of where we are in the table so we can't allow it to happen again.

"A lot of our players seem to thrive under pressure so maybe we can show a bit of balls and do a better job this time."

Reaching the final again, facing Manchester United this time, raises the question again of whether Spurs can push on and compete with the Premier League heavyweights consistently.

Woodgate added: "I'm sick of saying it, to be honest. We said the same things last season. You would like to think it would be a springboard with the manager we have and the players we have now.

"We're not showing that we can be a top-five or six club. The potential is there but we always say that. It's a bit like at Newcastle. They have a lot of talent as well."

Woodgate arrived from Middlesbrough in January last year and his ambition was to be part of a team pushing for a Champions League place.

"On paper, it's been a step up but if you look at how we've played, it hasn't been much of a step up."