‘On the pitch, we fight together’ – Under-18s skipper Lo-Tutala

Under-18s captain Thimothee Lo-Tutala was pleased with our youngsters’ second-half performance against Newport County on Tuesday – but admitted improvement is still needed after a below-par showing before the break.

In our first competitive match at Under-18 level since mid-December, we gifted the EFL Youth Alliance side a 2-0 lead inside 26 minutes at Hotspur Way but roared back to win 6-2, Dane Scarlett stealing the headlines with five goals while Roshaun Mathurin joined him on the scoresheet, adding to his two assists.

The result put us into the fourth round of the now-suspended FA Youth Cup campaign – we’ll face either AFC Wimbledon or Burnley away from home when it’s safe for the competition to resume.

Goalkeeper Thimothee was beaten at his near post by Lewys Twamley for Newport’s opener and almost gifted Ryan Hillier a third goal for Newport on the stroke of half-time, but recovered to save well and then brilliantly dived low to his right to keep out Jack Karadogan’s free-kick in the second period. He insisted he and his team-mates learned lessons from a challenging match.

“The first half wasn’t what we wanted it to be, we didn’t start off on the front foot, it wasn’t the best and I hold my hands up for the first goal, I didn’t necessarily do my bit for the team and it was probably my mistake,” he admitted. “We always go into matches – not just in the FA Youth Cup, but any game – with the mentality of going in with nothing and leaving with the win, but throughout that first half we were a bit slow to things, although credit to us in the second half, we turned things around and at the end of the day we got the result.

“Because we went in at half-time at 2-1, we had the feeling that if we scored another one there were a few goals in the game. Luckily it was a good feeling in the end and it was a good reaction and a good response in the second half which I’m pleased with, Dane obviously with the five goals and I was happy for Roshaun to get on the scoresheet as well.”

🎞️ 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦: 𝗦𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝟲-𝟮 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆

What a comeback by our U18s today 💪#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/M1fCeFCdQ9

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 12, 2021

Formerly Head Boy at The Forest Academy in Hainault, Paris-born Thimothee has skippered our Under-18s since the beginning of the season, missing only two games as we’ve made it up to second in the Under-18 Premier League southern division table.

“For me, I’m so grateful to be the captain and it shows that the coaches – Matt Taylor and Ryan Mason – have faith in me and can put that responsibility on me,” explained the stopper, who turns 18 next month. “I’m glad I can help the team but to be fair, even if I didn’t have the armband, everyone in the team is a captain in their own way. It doesn’t mean that because you have an armband it makes you special, we have to learn and grow together. I just try to demand and push the players as we all push each other.

“As the results show, especially this year, we’re all sticking together. The mood in the camp is very positive and when some of the boys go up with the Under-23s or the first team, we’re all just extremely happy for them. When we get out on the pitch, we fight together – as I always say, we have to attack together, defend together and in training sessions we always push ourselves and push each other and we drive the level and intensity to the maximum, which helps us on matchdays.

“We always try to remain positive, even when things don’t go well. We just have to keep battling through because it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish, so hopefully we can be in the race for the Under-18 Premier League title and hopefully the FA Youth Cup when it returns after lockdown. It’s all exciting for us.”