Robinson saw an exciting opportunity in the summer when the club were promoted but Derek Adams left for Bradford City. The former Northern Ireland international had three years at Motherwell and was assessing his options when the job at Morecambe arose.

“I’ve bought a house here and when I told people, everyone said, ‘Are you mad?’ I don’t understand why. It’s by the sea, it’s got a beautiful promenade and the people are so friendly,” Robinson said. “The town has been brilliant to me. People have been very amenable and helpful.

“In terms of fans, they were getting 1,200 and now we’re getting 4,000 for home games. To Spurs, that means nothing, but for a club like Morecambe, to treble your crowd and see the shop queued out for tickets and breaking records for season tickets, it’s forward steps and the town has embraced the club.

“It’s a working-class area that has had hard times but the football club gives everyone a bit of hope, an escape from reality, and it’s fantastic they are going to get their day out in a fantastic stadium against a team as big as Spurs.” LancsLive, the local news provider, ran a story in November about what happens after the summer at Morecambe, as it “braces for a long, empty winter”, although it notes that Eric Morecambe’s statue on Marine Road Central is an all-year-round attraction for tourists.

The football club have been a winter attraction, hosting Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic so far this season, with Sunderland arriving on the final day of the campaign. It has vindicated Robinson’s decision to join during the summer.

“I spoke to quite a few other clubs. But just as I was about to go to Spain for four weeks, I got a phone call to come and speak to them and it reminded me of Motherwell at the very start when the club was in the relegation zone and not an established club in terms of infrastructure and I just fancied the challenge,” he said.

“It’s been a real challenge to bring the football club to a sustainable level at League One. People were hanging out of the window on Monday morning after we had won 4-3 [from being 3-0 down against Doncaster] telling me we had made their night and bringing pride back into the town. Bear in mind we are sitting sixth from bottom in the league, so people are behind you.”

There are other Spurs links in the Morecambe team, with striker Jon Obika returning to the club where he played under Harry Redknapp in Uefa Cup games before playing regularly in the English Football League.

“I grew up a five-minute walk away from White Hart Lane and I’ve always thought of N17 as my home,” Obika said. “When the draw came out and we got Tottenham in the third round, it felt like going full circle.”

For Robinson there will be no visit to Spurs’ new stadium, following the action instead from his home in Morecambe, but still hoping to mastermind a giantkilling.