Joe Rodon opens up on Mourinho influence and training with Son/Kane

Joe Rodon has claimed that Jose Mourinho helped him to become mentally stronger and cope with the demands of Premier League football.

Rodon did not get any game time under his belt in his first few months at the club following his summer move from Swansea.

However, the youngster did start to receive opportunities in the Premier League after the turn of the year, partly due to the struggles of the other senior centre-backs.

Just when it seemed as though Rodon had forced his way into the side, Mourinho was sacked and the 23-year-old found himself watching on from the sidelines once again under interim boss Ryan Mason.

When asked about Mourinho’s approach with him, the defender told The Independent: “I felt he did it with me for a reason.

“It’s been a tough year, ups and downs, but I thought he handled me very well.

“It’s made me way better, mentally as well, and it’s going to benefit you moving forward.

“Everyone wants to play games of course, but sometimes it doesn’t go that way.

“You have to pick yourself up, keep going and hopefully get your rewards at the end of it.”

Rodon might have played as many games as he would have hoped for in his first season in North London but the former Swansea man admitted that he has come on considerably as a defender as a result of training with the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min on a regular basis.

He added: “Every player would like to play more minutes. But I got to train every day and work hard with some top players.

“It’s been a great eight months experience for me training with the Tottenham players. Training with top players only makes yourself better as a player individually.

“Harry is one of the best strikers in the world. But it’s not just Harry, there’s a lot of good players in that Tottenham squad. Going into that environment would improve any player and it was great to get a feel of that.”

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