Joe Hart reveals which two Spurs starlets are impressing him in pre-season

Joe Hart has admitted that he has been impressed by the talent and work ethic of the young players in the Tottenham academy and insisted that they have a great opportunity to make an impression on Nuno Espirito Santo during pre-season.

Several senior Spurs stars, including all those who were part of the Copa America and Europen Championships over the summer, are not expected to return to Hotspur Way until the final weeks of pre-season.

The new Spurs head coach has incorporated some players from the Under-23s in his training sessions so far and several of those players were handed opportunities in the club’s pre-season opener against Leyton Orient on Saturday.

Maksim Pasktosi, Kallum Cesay, Nile John and Dane Scarlett were all handed starts against the League Two side while the likes of TJ Eyoma, Tobi Omole, Jack Clarke and Troy Parrott came on in the second half.

A number of the youngsters gave a very good account of themselves, with Scarlett opening the scoring for the away side before the O’s equalised in the second half.

Speaking about the academy players involved, Hart told Spurs TV after Saturday’s 1-1 draw: “I’ve said it before there are two ways of looking at it.

“People can feel sorry for themselves and say, ‘we’re filling a space whilst the other boys come back’ or, like Led (King) said there, you can see it as a real opportunity to make a name for yourself, maybe not on the world stage of football like we all dream of, but in the Tottenham Hotspur manager’s eyes.

“You are playing and representing the first team, you are playing in front of the guys who are watching this now. It’s a big opportunity and you can only see it as that as a young player.

“I like these guys, I like them a lot. They get their heads down, they work. There’s obviously a super talent in Dane, Nile is really impressing.

“There’s a really good solid core coming through at Spurs, but there’s plenty of players out there and it’s about taking the next step.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Given that we are not going to be able to compete financially with the likes of United, City and Chelsea in the transfer window, our best shot at closing the gap with those teams is the quality coming through our academy.

If we can nurture the youngsters in the right manner, we could potentially have a golden generation to look forward to in a few years. That is perhaps why Levy was keen to appoint a manager who likes developing young players.

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