Japhet Tanganga has lavished praise on Alfie Devine for his performance on his senior Tottenham debut against Marine on Sunday and admitted that he told the midfielder to just repeat the same things he has been doing in training.
Devine, who arrived from Wigan Athletic in the summer, came on at the start of the second half, along with Tanganga, with Spurs already 4-0 up in the game.
The teenager became the youngest ever player in the club’s history at 16 years and 163 days and marked his debut with a well-taken goal.
Tanganga, who made his first-team debut less than a year ago, revealed that he tried to reassure the youngster just as he was about to come on and insisted that there is a lot more to come from him.
The defender told Football.London: “He’s trained a few times with us and every time he’s come up he’s looked a real spark. He’s doing well.
“When he was coming on [with me at half-time], I just told him, ‘Keep it simple, do what you’ve been doing in training – there’s a reason why you’ve been training up’.
“Today you saw glimpses of his ability, a really professional performance. I’m really happy for him to get his first professional goal. He’s a really good player and there’s more to come as well.”
Tanganga also expressed his delight at the fact that Devine was able to mark the occasion with a goal and insisted that the youngster could build on that performance.
When asked about the goal, the 21-year-old said: “It’s a great achievement and it was a great goal. I’m happy for him and hopefully, from here it’s a confidence boost, knowing that the manager can put him in for these games.
“He’s shown he can hustle, he’s shown what he can do, so hopefully from here he can kick on and get more appearances for the club.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Devine looked really lively when he came on and showed why he was highly sought after in the summer. He looks to possess all the attributes to be a future first-team star and it seems as if we have pulled off a real coup by landing him.
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