New Tottenham Hotspur defender Ashley Phillips appears to already be ahead of schedule in his development at the club.
Speaking on the View From The Lane Podcast, journalist James Maw was discussing the current centre-back situation at Spurs.
Right now, things couldn’t be going much better for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
They’re top of the Premier League and have reached the summit of the table playing some fantastic football.
One of the key areas Postecoglou needed to improve over the summer was Tottenham’s defence.
Antonio Conte had built his previous sides on the foundation of being rock solid at the back but that philosophy fell apart towards the end of his tenure.
Postecoglou has made sweeping changes to Tottenham’s tactical set-up, switching to a back four and recruiting Micky Van de Ven.
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The young Dutchman appears to be the perfect partner for Cristian Romero and the pair have started every league game this season.
Spurs do look a bit light in that area should either player pick up an injury.
However, Tottenham will be encouraged by the fact that Ashley Phillips appears to be further along in his development than expected.
He was signed from Blackburn for £3m in the summer and has featured on the bench several times this season.
He’s yet to make his debut, but alongside Alfie Dorrington, there’s plenty of excitement surrounding the pair.
Tottenham youngster Phillips ahead of schedule in development
Host Danny Kelly asks if there had been a problem at centre-back against Fulham, would Ange Postecoglou have brought on Eric Dier or youngster Ashley Phillips?
James Maw said: “I don’t know, it’s hard to say. I think there has kind of been a suggestion, I mean [Ange] Postecoglou has certainly talked up [Ashley] Phillips hasn’t he?
“I think the suggestion has kind of been that he’s further along than they expected him to be at this point.
“But, the fact that he hasn’t played a minute of football either.”
Colleague Tim Spiers added: “I’d be amazed if Phillips got in ahead of [Eric] Dier. I think there were a couple of games earlier in the season where he got in ahead of Dier just before the window closed.
“So, maybe they were thinking Dier was going to leave and then Dier was out ill one week.
“But otherwise it’s been Dier ahead in the pecking order.”
Phillips will likely continue his development at Tottenham in the under-21s this season.
Wayne Burnett’s side are also currently top of the league although Phillips has barely featured at that level so far this year.
The 18-year-old has already caught Postecoglou’s eye in training and if Spurs were still in the Carabao Cup he may have been given his chance in that competition to make his debut.
Instead, he may be waiting for the FA Cup to begin in January, although it would only take a couple of injuries for him to potentially be thrown into the action in the league.