Tottenham Hotspur will be preparing for their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg encounter against Chelsea on Thursday.
Ryan Mason has claimed that Tottenham youngster Kazaiah Sterling is ‘ready and waiting’ to fill the void left by injured star striker Harry Kane.
The former Spurs man stated that 16-year-old Troy Parrott is more of a ‘long term’ option and potentially isn’t ready to step into the senior fold.
Prior to his premature retirement, Mason spent eight years at White Hart Lane and he would have seen the youngsters coming through the north London ranks.
He offered his insight into those players as he pinpointed one individual who could help ease the burden on manager Mauricio Pochettino, who is light in numbers in the attacking third.
“Yes, there are a few players [who can step up],” Mason told The Final Word on talkSPORT on 20/01/19 at 6:30 pm. “We have a striker Sterling, who was on the bench [against Fulham].
“A youth team lad, Troy Parrot, who’s a lot younger. I think Parrot, in the long term, is a good option potentially for the football club. But I think right now, Sterling, he is physically there, he’s ready and waiting.”
England captain Kane suffered ligaments damage during his side’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, with Dele Alli limping off against Fulham at the weekend and Heung-min Son currently on international duty.
As a result of that, backup striker, Fernando Llorente started at Craven Cottage and ended up scoring an own goal before Harry Winks’ last-gasp goal sealed all three points for his team.
Nonetheless, Sterling has made one senior appearance for his boyhood club, while Parrott is yet to taste first-team football, the highest level he has competed at is playing in Premier League 2.
Sterling has produced a number of stellar performances at that level, playing seven league matches, scoring four goals and supplying his teammates with two assists.
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