Tim Sherwood had asked his side to show character… and they did.

Three goals within 12 thrilling second-half minutes salvaged this Europa League tie and with it some English pride in European competitions this month.

It’s just a shame it took going behind 2-0 on aggregate to spark Spurs into action. Sherwood’s side conjured up a dramatic finale to set up a last-16 tie against Benfica.

Where once Gareth Bale was needed to steal victory from the brink of defeat, Christian Eriksen and Emmanuel Adebayor assumed the Welshman’s mantle, with their goals propelling Tottenham into the next round.

Spurs had toiled without reward and were then hit by a sucker punch when Roman Zozulya scored a precious away goal for FC Dnipro within just three minutes of the restart.

Only then did Tottenham really get going; finding the extra gear needed to break down this wily Ukrainian side, coached by ex-Spurs boss Juande Ramos. Only then did Adebayor literally roll his sleeves up and take off his gloves.

Eriksen struck first, hitting a delightful free-kick to make it 1-1 on the night, and then it was Dnipro’s turn to lose their cool.

Goalscorer Zozulya responded to a shove from Jan Vertonghen by butting the Spurs defender, who fell to the ground.

Zozulya was shown a straight red card and Tottenham pounced.

Adebayor made it 2-1 from another excellent Eriksen delivery a minute later before adding a beautifully taken second after 69 minutes after a ball from Zeki Fryers. The Togo striker has now scored 11 goals in his last 14 games: quite a way to repay his manager’s obvious faith in his abilities.

If only Adebayor and his team-mates could have been inspired by Sherwood earlier. The Spurs boss was a passionate, simmering cauldron of anger throughout; spending most of the match screaming at his players, the referee, the fourth official and even the ball boys for not getting the ball back into play quickly enough.

Dnipro were certainly not averse to wasting time or rolling about the pitch, but this is nothing new in European football.

The Ukrainian side made clear their intention early on, after all: sitting deep, tucking in neatly and inviting Tottenham to break them down. They are not the first team to try that at White Hart Lane this season, of course, yet it is a tactic that has proved successful in thwarting Tottenham’s top-four ambitions.

Spurs were allowed to play plenty of nice intricate passes in the middle of the pitch but were closed down quickly and snuffled out whenever they tried to breach the penalty area.

Dnipro left back Ivan Strinic was, however, fortunate to escape with an early lapse of concentration that saw Andros Townsend nick the ball and sprint towards goal, only for Ondrej Mazuch to intercept his pass to Roberto Soldado.

Sherwood had said Tottenham would go for it, and they certainly tried. Despite its undeniable effect on their Premier League form, the Europa League remains their only chance of silverware this season.

It had not gone unnoticed that the last manager to win a trophy at Spurs — the League Cup in 2008 — was in the opposing dug-out.

Sherwood had a premonition it would take three goals to win it and Vertonghen incurred the wrath of his manager inside three minutes when a long punt forward went awry. Yet Eriksen’s 30-yard free-kick, after 26 minutes, was Spurs’ first shot on target.

Sherwood told Soldado this week it was ‘his time’ to end his barren run of just one goal in his last eight games, yet the striker continued to play like a man lacking confidence.

The vocal home crowd got on side, chanting Soldado’s name early on, but his response to an early loss of control was to move out to the left and take himself out of the firing line.

It is in the middle, however, where Spurs need him to rediscover his form; to be ‘another one like Jermain Defoe’, as Sherwood put it, rather wistfully, on Wednesday.

The £26million signing was perhaps fortunate to stay on the pitch after an elbow on Artem Fedetskiy in the first half. The Dnipro right back’s reaction and fall was so over the top that French referee Antony Gautier decided only to deliver a strong reprimand to both players.

It was Dnipro who struck first after the restart. A lapse of concentration from Vertonghen saw Zozulya steal a header past Hugo Lloris. Tottenham looked doomed, but the goal served only to spark them into life.

Soldado found the back of the net after 53 minutes after a fine through ball from Eriksen, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside. When your luck’s not in, and all that.

But Eriksen had the bit between his teeth and equalised on the night with a curling free-kick that flew into the left-hand corner.

Yevhen Konoplyanka saw a shot beat Lloris but cannon off the post before Fedetskiy put the rebound over the bar as Dnipro battled.

But by then the Tottenham comeback had come and gone.

Adebayor struck twice within four minutes after Zozulya’s dismissal to keep Spurs’ Europa League dreams alive.

That’s character for you.

—Daily Mail