Tottenham Hotspur left-back Ben Davies is set for a run of matches, with Danny Rose out injured.
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has told Football.London that he was impressed by Ben Davies’ display against Middlesbrough at the weekend.
Davies came in to replace Danny Rose in Spurs’ starting line-up, as the Lilywhites picked up a 1-0 win over Boro at White Hart Lane.
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And Pochettino said: “I’m happy with Ben. He had a very good performance today. I’m very pleased for him. You always talk about the squad and how important it is for all the players to be fit.
“You never know when you need to play then. It’s for that at the start of the season, you have 24-25 players. Sometimes you need to rotate and give them time to play and keep motivating them.”
Pochettino’s praise is good news for Davies, as his next few appearances for Spurs could be the most important of his career to date.
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With Rose out injured, Davies is expected to be handed a run of starts for Tottenham and he has a point to prove.
There are some doubts around White Hart Lane, over whether Davies has the attacking capabilities to play in their team.
The Welsh international is a solid defender, but when he has played previously, Spurs have lost a lot of their attacking threat.
Rose is brilliant going forward, and is a constant outlet, and Davies has often struggled to give Spurs the same attacking thrust when he has started.
When the former Swansea City man was brought to White Hart Lane back in 2014, he and Rose appeared to be on a similar level, but there is no doubting that the England international has progressed more quickly.
It means that Davies’ next few appearances could be crucial for his Spurs career.
Pochettino has a ruthless streak, and has already sent out a warning that any fringe player at White Hart Lane who proves they aren’t ready to come into the first-team will be moved on.
That statement has been proven by Spurs’ transfers in recent windows – with the likes of Nacer Chadli, Tom Carroll and Alex Pritchard all being offloaded.
And, if Davies is to have a future at Tottenham, he simply has to keep impressing over the coming weeks.
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