Joe heartened by early pre-season endeavours

Joe Hart has been encouraged by the first weeks of pre-season - and knows there is still much more to come from the squad.

Returning to training just under two weeks ago and under new direction, following the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo as Head Coach, Joe is raring to go ahead of the new campaign - and he is hungry for success.

Having enjoyed trophy-laden years at Manchester City, the experienced goalkeeper is no stranger to success and knows exactly what is required to attain it.

So far, after just a fortnight of pre-season for the group, Joe says the initial signs from the training pitches have been promising. Yet, as he spoke to us after our 1-1 draw in our pre-season opener at Leyton Orient on Saturday, he is well aware that there is still work to be done ahead of our opening day clash against Manchester City on 15 August.

“It’s been strong,” Joe reflected on pre-season training so far. “We’re quite resilient in football. The new manager has come in and everyone is ready to work. We want to start building something here. I feel like our foundations need to be stronger if we are to do anything (this year). So, we’re looking to do that now and hopefully have a good season.

“We need to show up, first and foremost. We’re going to have that added incentive of fans coming back and we have to perform. We are a club that is all set up to go somewhere and it hasn’t, so I think the new manager understands that and us as players need to take that responsibility a bit more, I feel.”

With many First Team players not yet available for action following their exploits in this summer’s international tournaments, our travelling party to Orient was a mix of experience and youth.

Four of our Academy players started the game with Maksim Paskotsi, Kallum Cesay, Nile John and Dane Scarlett - our goalscorer on the day - all named in the starting XI. Changes in the second half then saw the game completed, in the majority, by members of our Development Squad.

Impressed by what he has seen from the new crop of youth talent coming through the system, Joe believes these moments can be a real opportunity for our youngsters to make an impression on Nuno.

“It was alright. Obviously it’s difficult, we’ve not been training long so it was more of an exercise today," he added. “A lot of the boys have been playing in competitions this year (summer), so it’s a bit of a depleted squad, but I think the guys who are here put on a good show.

“There’s two ways of looking at it. People can feel sorry for themselves and say, 'we’re filling a space before the other boys come back' or you can see it as a real opportunity to make a name for yourself, maybe not on the world stage of football that we all dream of, but in the Tottenham Hotspur manager’s eyes. You’re playing for and representing the first team; you’re going to be playing in front of the guys that are watching this now.

“It’s a big opportunity and you can only see it like that as a young player. I like these guys; I like them a lot. They get their heads down, they work. There’s obviously a super talent there in Dane. Nile is really impressing. There’s a real good solid core coming through at Spurs, but there are plenty of good players out there. It is about taking that next step.”