Mauricio on Mason

Ryan Mason’s emergence has come as no surprise to Mauricio Pochettino.

The Head Coach introduced the midfielder off the bench for his first senior Spurs appearance in almost two years against Forest last week.

Trailing 1-0 at the time, Ryan sparked a 3-1 comeback in the Capital One Cup with a magnificent equaliser from 30 yards.

His performance earned a Premier League debut in the North London derby at the Emirates and Ryan responded impressively again in the 1-1 draw.

Now 23, Ryan staked his claim on our summer tour of the USA and Canada and despite being struck by an injury on the eve of the season - keeping him out for a month - he’s been handed a chance.

“Ryan is not a surprise for me, maybe for the people who don’t know him, but no surprise for me,” said Mauricio.

“He had a very good performance in the pre-season tour of America and I discovered his talents there, because before I’d never seen him play. We first saw him when we arrived here.

“He deserved his moment because he worked hard, showed ambition and energy and for the team, that’s very important. He’s also a very good guy.

“We need to be careful with him, he’s younger and the last two or three seasons have been difficult for him. We need to help him and maybe he’ll be an important player for Tottenham.”