There was certainly no sign of rust from Tottenham Hotspur powerhouse Joe Rodon on Friday night.
The Spurs centre-back helped his native Wales to a 2-2 draw in World Cup qualifying away to Czech Republic.
Since Nuno Espirito Santo has become Tottenham boss, the Portuguese coach has only played Rodon in one-quarter of the club’s games this season, featuring in three of their 12 games across all competitions.
Clearly Nuno isn’t all that convinced by the former Swansea City stalwart just yet.
But he certainly proved his worth last night and was even given a 7/10 rating by Wales Online, who wrote: “A welcome return for the Tottenham man, who added a degree of calmness to the back three. An assured presence and yet another solid showing.”
Rarely seen, rarely used
This was an even better performance by Rodon when you consider how little football he has played.
The big man, an £11 million signing by Jose Mourinho last year, has managed only 78 minutes of Premier League football all season.
The bulk of his action has come against Mura – who lost 5-1 in a Europa Conference League clash in North London last month – and versus Rennes in the same competition.
In other words, you could argue that he wasn’t even really ready to face Czech Republic on a stage like this, by virtue of his lack of minutes for Tottenham.
But he showed what a good player he is nonetheless and he’ll hope that Nuno was watching.
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