Milos grateful for early boost

Milos Veljkovic reckons his time on the fringes of our first team squad only benefitted him when his big chance finally arrived.

The Serbian Under-19 international, who was born in Switzerland, became the latest youngster to graduate from our Development Squad into the senior ranks at White Hart Lane in the closing weeks of the season.

Substitute appearances in our Premier League wins against Sunderland and Aston Villa were followed up with a place in the starting line-up in Ledley King’s Testimonial at the end of the campaign.

And while clearly thrilled to make his top flight debut, the defensive midfielder believes his numerous previous matchdays in and around the squad as an unused substitute helped him acclimatise to the pressures of first team football.

“I’ve been training regularly with the first team since Christmas and when you’re on the bench on a matchday you can see what it’s like to be in the squad,” said the 18-year-old. “You get to see things a little bit nearer than is possible from the stands and you also experience the half-time team-talks and everything, so that was a good experience for me.

“Obviously I wanted to get on and that finally happened against Sunderland and Aston Villa with some top players around me. When I came on against Sunderland I was playing next to Gylfi Sigurdsson with Younes Kaboul at the back, which was really good.”

With those early experiences now under his belt, Milos is determined to push on in the coming months with the aim of securing more senior game time in 2014-15.

“It’s been an amazing time and obviously I’m very pleased,” he added. “My first goal was to get on the pitch, which I’ve now achieved, and hopefully I will be able to build on that.

“Next season will be very important for me and I’m looking forward to it.”