Patient Davies relishing his Spurs chance
TOTTENHAM defender Ben Davies insists he never contemplated leaving in the January transfer window despite playing second fiddle to Danny Rose.
Rose’s form meant Davies made only three starts in Spurs’ first 22 Premier League matches but his persistence has been rewarded in recent weeks.
A knee injury to Rose, which will keep the England left-back out for another month, has offered Davies the chance of a run in the first team.
Davies is expected to start again when Spurs host Everton today and he maintains he has never questioned his future at White Hart Lane.
“I was always sure I was going to be here,” Davies said.
“Every club needs two players for every position.
“The manager told me I was important to the club and that’s all I saw.
“Danny has been playing some unbelievable football, and you just have to be patient and wait for your chance to come.
“Every day we push each other to be as good as we can be and that can only be good for Tottenham.”
This afternoon’s clash with Everton could also be billed as the battle of the league’s top scorers as Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku, both on 17 goals, go head-to-head.
While Davies will be tasked with keeping Lukaku quiet, his Welsh team-mate and Everton centre-half Ashley Williams will have the job of containing Kane.
“Ash is a top, top defender,” Davies said.
“It is going to be a tough game for Harry but I can see him doing it against any defender in the game, so Ash will be in for a tough day.”
Kane is in scintillating form, having hit his second hat-trick in a week against Stoke last week.
The 23-year-old has 13 goals in his last 12 games while Lukaku has scored nine in 10.
“Harry is massive for us,” Davies said.
“His mindset is purely scoring goals.
“He wants to play in every minute of every game to give himself the chance to score the goals.”
Everton are the form side in the division, having won five and drawn two of their last seven, but Tottenham can hardly afford any slip-ups.as they trail league leaders Chelsea by 10 points.
“We have to keep believing,” Davies said.
“Anything can change at the end of the season so we keep believing and if we can narrow the gap on Chelsea, maybe some pressure can build.
“It is down to us to finish as high as we can and win every game from here on in.”