‘He needs to play’ – Stellini insists 22-year-old needs regular game time

Cristian Stellini has praised Oliver Skipp for his performance against West Ham United, remarking that the midfielder’s intelligence on the pitch makes it look like he is older than he actually is.

Tottenham are missing two important players in the middle of the park at the moment, with Rodrigo Bentancur out for the rest of the season with a ruptured ACL while Yves Bissouma is expected to out out of action for around two months with an ankle injury (Football.London).

Antonio Conte’s men are reliant on Skipp to step up deliver at a crucial point in the season and the midfielder certainly did not disappoint at the San Siro last week alongside Pape Matar Sarr.

The 22-year-old delivered another disciplined display in the middle of the park against the Hammers, constantly putting out danger in front of the back three and helping the home side kickstart attacks despite having been on a yellow card since the eighth minute of the London derby.

Stellini admitted that he and the coaching staff at Spurs rate Skipp highly and remarked that the academy graduate just needs some regular game time to rebuild his confidence after a frustrating spell on the sidelines through injury last year.

The Italian told Football.London following Tottenham’s win over West Ham: “Skippy, when we arrive here, we discover this type of player. We have lost Skippy for a long time for a physical problem and we are sad for that but we had to wait for the right moment. He is a young player who needs confidence and needs to feel everything is perfect around him. He needs to play. This type of player needs to play.

“We can give him all the love we can but the player needs to play and want to play to stay confident. When Skippy is confident, he is a young player with a great mind. It’s not because you’re young that you don’t have experience. Skippy is an intelligent player and for that, it seems he’s more than his age.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I found it ridiculous that some Spurs fans were writing Skipp off a couple of weeks ago on the back of a couple of starts.

It is worth remembering that the 22-year-old was arguably our best player in the first half of last season before he picked up his pelvic injury. There is no reason to think he will not be able to recapture that form if he gets a run of consecutive starts under his belt.

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