BRIGHTON, England -- Tottenham Hotspur can win a run of trophies if they end a 10-year wait for silverware by winning the FA Cup, Jan Vertonghen has said.

Spurs face Manchester United in the semifinals at Wembley on Saturday, having not won a trophy since the 2008 League Cup.

They have lost their last seven FA Cup semifinals -- the longest such run in the history of the competition -- and have not won the competition since 1991.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has played down the significance of the FA Cup, saying success in it would not create a winning culture at the club.

But Vertonghen was part of a promising young squad at Ajax who, after winning the Dutch Cup in 2007, claimed another in 2009 and then won four straight league titles.

"Everyone at the club is looking forward to games like Saturday and being in finals," he said. "I've been here a long time and this is definitely the best team I've played in at Tottenham.

"This team and club deserves a trophy for all the work we've put in, and we hope Saturday can be the next step.

"Everyone always says: 'What do you need to win trophies?' But when I won my first the next couple followed at a very quick tempo.

"You just need that belief you can do it and then they will come. We're full of confidence that we can."

Jan Vertonghen is backing Spurs to win trophies. Julian Finney/Getty Images

Spurs return to Wembley, their temporary home, following a 3-1 home defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, followed by a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Tuesday.

Vertonghen believes still will quickly recover from the disappointing results and says playing at the national stadium can only be a good thing for himself and his teammates.

"Obviously I'm still dealing with the disappointment from today [at Brighton] so it's hard to look forward to Saturday, but we'll change that from tomorrow," he said. "United are a big team and they'll do everything to win a trophy this season as well.

"It's funny it's at Wembley -- it's definitely not a disadvantage. We're used to it now but the atmosphere will be different because United will bring more supporters than usual.

"But we feel very comfortable at Wembley, we've shown that over the last couple of months -- not against City, but before that. We have to approach the game like we do in the league. In games at Wembley, we want to dominate, we want to entertain and play in a very positive way.

"Hopefully we can have the same game as at the beginning of this year when we beat United [2-0] in a very positive way."

Vertonghen praised Belgium teammate Romelu Lukaku, who will line up for United on Saturday.

"He's a great striker," he said. "He's done very well for United in his first season and we need to keep him away from our box.

"I don't think we'll speak before. They play tomorrow [against Bournemouth] and we need to keep in our zones. We'll definitely speak on Saturday in a friendly way because we're good together."