Tottenham Women boss makes 'boring' admission ahead of historic Women's FA Cup semi-final

Tottenham Hotspur Women's head coach Robert Vilahamn praises the enthralling nature of the Women's Super League (WSL) amid complaints of other major European leagues being "boring".

He uses his side's historic FA Cup semi-final match-up with Leicester City as proof of the league's increasing competitive levels. On Sunday, this will mark the first time either team has reached the semi-finals of the tournament, guaranteeing a first-time finalist in May's grand FA Cup showdown.

Both sides had to fight off heady opponents to reach this stage, Spurs, in particular, overcame league leaders Manchester City in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. The victory over City encapsulates Spurs' journey since Vilahamn took charge last summer.

Spurs sunk to a crushing 7-0 defeat to City in their first meeting this season, followed by 2-0 and 1-0 losses in the league and League Cup quarter-finals respectively. Victory finally arrived at the fourth attempt.

According to Vilahamn, reaching this stage, alongside the Foxes, demonstrates not only the team’s progress but the progress of one of women’s football most competitive leagues in the world.

"It's good news for a lot of people in this country because everyone wants a competitive league," Rehanne Skinner said in a press conference on Friday. "It's been quite boring in a lot of the leagues in Europe when it's only two teams fighting. So in that way I really like it and of course I like it when we're the team competing.

"But also for the fanbases, we need to have more teams competing so we can bring more fans to the stadiums. So it's very important both for women's football and for us."

READ MORE: Bethany England eyes 'fairytale ending' to Tottenham's remarkable season

READ MORE: Premier League drop clearest Man City points deduction hint yet amid Arsenal FFP wait

Victory on Sunday would bring a first-ever visit to Wembley Stadium for Tottenham Women, while also ending the club's haunting history of FA Cup semi-final losses. "I didn't realise when we won in the quarter-finals how big it was to be in the semi-finals and of course to be doing it for the first time, and I'm proud of it," Skinner said when asked of the significance of the match.

"The girls this year have been great and we've taken some big steps and we want to make sure we put Tottenham Women's football on the map and make sure we're up there competing."

Spurs recently defeated Leicester 1-0 in the league despite not performing to the best of their ability. And while Vilahamn has denied any suggestions that the recent victory puts his side at an advantage going into Sunday, he maintained that consistently erring on the right side of narrow margins shows the calibre and capability of her squad.

"I think all these wins when you win in the last minute builds a kind of strength in the squad and builds team bonding," he said. "It also shows how good quality we have in the squad because both these games players have come off the bench and had a huge impact on the games.

"So when you get that, you feel like you're apart of the team and we're learning how to win games and also how to get back in games and win them so it shows good character, depth and quality."

Tottenham are set to host Leicester at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at 12pm on Sunday.