Nabil's pride

Nabil Bentaleb spoke of his pride after making his Spurs debut in Sunday's thrilling 3-2 win at Southampton.

The young midfielder, who only turned 19 last month, was handed his first team bow just five minutes into the second half at St Mary’s.

And the latest player to graduate from our Academy to first team didn’t disappoint with a display full of poise on the ball, strength, awareness and no little maturity as we came from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 and then recover again from Southampton’s equaliser to take maximum points.

Emmanuel Adebayor scored our first and third goals either side of Jos Hooiveld turning Danny Rose’s cross into his own net.

“It felt great,” said Nabil, who has captained our Under-21s this season. “ I’m the happiest kid today. It was a pleasure. I’ve waited for that moment and I’m very proud.

“I felt nervous before I went on but once that calmed down and I got the first touch, I felt full of confidence. From there, I played my normal game.

“It’s all about confidence. Once you get that first touch and you know your qualities, you know you have the tools to play a good game.

“There is still more to come. This is only the start. I have to keep working hard and hopefully everything will go right for me.”