Mason's magic moment

Ryan Mason wore a contented smile after his cracker against Forest and admitted: “I've waited a long time for that!”

The midfielder who joined our Academy back in 2007 and made his debut in Europe in November, 2008 stepped off the bench for only his fifth appearance with us trailing 1-0 to the Championship leaders in the Capital One Cup third round.

Seven minutes later and he was in Spurs heaven after pinging into the top corner from 30 yards to level the scores in the third round encounter.

That sparked the revival as Roberto Soldado turned home Andros Townsend’s shot before Harry Kane fired home for 3-1 in added time.

“It’s a very special night for me,” said Ryan, who has 86 league appearances to his name after loan spells at Yeovil, Doncaster, Millwall, Leyton Orient and Swindon.

“I was sitting on the bench hoping to get on and when the gaffer gave me the opportunity, I’m thankful I took it.

“As soon as I hit it I knew it had a chance. I think the keeper saw it late and that obviously helped but I was delighted it went in.”

After making such an impact, Ryan was naturally looking ahead and hoping to be part of the squad again for Saturday’s North London derby.

"I’ve been working hard, I’m thankful the gaffer gave me the opportunity tonight and hopefully there is more to come,” said Ryan, who impressed in pre-season before picking up an injury in early August.

“Of course, it’s every Tottenham fan’s dream to play against Arsenal but I’m not going to get carried away - we’ll see what happens.”