Tottenham Hotspur made it to the fourth round of the League Cup in dramatic fashion on Wednesday night.
Spurs looked to be heading out at the hands of Coventry City, which would have been a truly catastrophic result for Ange Postecoglou.
After Tottenham picked up just four points in their first four Premier League games, plus losing the North London derby, defeat to a Championship side would’ve piled the pressure on Postecoglou.
However, Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson both struck late on in the game to put Spurs in the next round of the competition at Coventry’s expense.
The game saw Postecoglou make a decision which was criticised at half-time but certainly went on to reap dividends – namely, replacing Destiny Udogie with Spence.
“This isn’t the sub I expected,” Lee Hendrie said on Sky Sports. “It’s a strange one bringing on Spence. I thought Udogie was one of the better players in the first half.”
Spence went on to be one of Tottenham’s best players – as Alasdair Gold said in his football.london post-match ratings piece – and the catalyst for their eventual victory.
Ange Postecoglou true to his word as Djed Spence plays and shines for Tottenham
Not only did Postecoglou’s decision leave Hendrie with proverbial egg on his face, but it also showed that the Spurs manager is true to his word.
Postecoglou recently told football.london that “there will be plenty of football” for Spence “if he keeps going like he is.”
The Tottenham full-back sadly missed out on their Europa League group-stage squad due to the knock-on effect of a lack of club-trained options.
Admittedly, the decision to leave Spence out of the Europa League squad continues to raise eyebrows.
However, at least the former Middlesbrough ace is getting domestic game time for Tottenham, as Postecoglou suggested he would.
What next for Tottenham?
Spurs are next in action on Saturday afternoon as they host Brentford in the Premier League in a 3pm kick-off.
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