Against a spirited Nottingham Forest side in the fifth round, Martin Jol chose to bring on Keane and Mido for the home side – allowing the Egyptian striker to reach 90 minutes of first team action since his January transfer.
How the Dutchman might have wished he could bring on cup-tied Andy Reid to face his former club instead of asking Keane to replace a below par Reto Ziegler on the left side of midfield.
Despite taking the lead on the stroke of half-time thanks to Jermain Defoe’s 20th goal of the season, Nottingham Forest were gifted an equaliser after the break. An uncharacteristic mix up between Ledley King and Paul Robinson to let in Forest’s Gareth Taylor created a tense finish at White Hart Lane.
Jol afterwards directed a majority of the blame at youngsters Ziegler, Timothee Atouba, and Stephen Kelly for not exploiting the visitor’s weakness in defence.
"If you play against a lower division side you need to open them up down the flanks. Our movement in wide positions and our crossing lacked a bit of brilliance," said Jol.