Eric Dier has admitted that everyone at Tottenham is excited by Joe Rodon’s potential and added that the former Swansea man is ready to start games if necessary.
There were plenty of positives for Tottenham in their 2-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday, which took them to the top of the table, but the one looming negative was the injury suffered by Toby Alderweireld towards the end of the match.
The Belgian had to be withdrawn due to a groin problem, with Jose Mourinho admitting after the game that the injury appeared to be serious.
Dier, who had built a solid partnership with Alderweireld over the past few weeks, has admitted that losing the 31-year-old will be a major blow.
He told Football.London: “A huge blow (If the injury is serious). It would be a huge blow for us. We’ve been defending really well.
“Three clean sheets in our last four [Premier League matches] and Toby’s been a big part of that. I thought today again he made some fantastic interceptions, tackles, blocks when he needed to.
“So obviously any player in this squad getting injured is a big loss for us and Toby’s no different.”
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Joe Rodon replaced Alderweireld against City for what was just his second appearance in a Spurs shirt since joining from Swansea and Dier admitted that the Welsh international seems to have the right physical and mental attributes to fill in for the experienced Belgian.
When asked about Rodon, Dier said: “It’s difficult as we haven’t really spent a lot of time together since he arrived. From what I can see, he’s very humble, very hard-working. From what I can see he has a fantastic mentality to want to work, to improve.
“From what I’ve seen [of him] around the training ground, all of those things have been fantastic, and I know the Welsh boys Ben and Gareth speak very highly of him. So excited for him to be able to help the team.
“That’s not my decision, not for me to say (if Rodon is likely to start the next game). That’s up to the manager.”
When asked whether the 23-year-old is ready to play in the London Derby against Chelsea next week, the England international responded: “Yeah, of course. Everyone in the team is ready to step in if called up.”
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