Les Ferdinand admits he finds Mourinho’s academy player snub strange

Former Tottenham striker Les Ferdinand has admitted that he is surprised by Jose Mourinho’s decision to not use Troy Parrott despite the injury crisis the club find themselves in.

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are both out of action with long-term injuries leaving Tottenham with very few options up front.

Parrott is the only recognised ‘out and out’ striker at the club but Mourinho has opted against using him so far.

The Spurs boss has insisted that the 18-year-old, who signed a new deal with the club earlier in the month is not ready yet for first-team football (Football.London).

Tottenham lined up with Lucas Moura, Steven Bergwijn and Dele Alli as the front three against RB Leipzig on Wednesday and they seemed to lack a physical presence up front to hold up the ball.

Ferdinand admits he has found it strange that the Irishman has not been given a go.

Speaking to Football.London, he said: “That’s a strange one and it’s easy to sit back and say Troy Parrott should be playing because he’s the only recognised striker, but, although he’s the only striker that we all recognise, he has to be good enough or the manager has to deem him good enough to play in the side.

“We’ve seen on the international level he’s done pretty well there, but there’s a jump between playing in the U23s and playing in the first team in the Premier League on a regular basis. I think the manager will blood him and play him when he thinks the time is right.”

When asked about why the youngster hasn’t been included on the bench in recent weeks, Ferdinand added: “I think that’s the surprise really that he hasn’t done that. Sometimes we’re not privy to the reason why it hasn’t happened, we just see a player and think he should be on the bench or he should be in the first team.

“When you’re on the other side you understand why those things don’t happen. I think that’s the thing everybody would like to see is whether he’s good enough in the end. The manager will make that decision when the right time is to do that.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Given Jose’s repeated insistence that Parrott isn’t ready, I just can’t see him getting any significant game time this season. He is probably going to have to go out on loan to impress next season as I believe the club will likely sign a striker in the summer after failing to do is January.

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