Japhet Tanganga insists there is more to come from teenager Alfie Devine after Marine game

Speaking to Standard Sport, Tottenham Hotspur defender Japhet Tanganga has hailed youngster Alfie Devine after his performance in the FA Cup win against Marine AFC.

Tottenham defeated the eighth division side 5-0 in the FA Cup on Sunday. And Devine, who made his first-team debut in the game, enjoyed a memorable occasion. Having replaced Moussa Sissoko at half-time, the 16-year-old scored his first-ever goal for the club with a brilliant finish just fifteen minutes into his appearance.

And Tanganga has heaped praise on the teenager, insisting that he was always impressed by Devine each time the midfielder trained with the first-team.

“Every time he’s come up [to first-team training] he’s looked a real spark. He’s doing well. When he was coming on, I just told him, ‘Keep it simple, do what you’ve been doing in training – there’s a reason why you’ve been training up’.”

The Tottenham defender further exclaimed that there were better things to come from the 16-year-old midfielder.

“It’s a great achievement and it was a great goal. Hopefully, from here it’s a confidence boost, knowing that the manager can put him in for these games. He’s shown he can hustle, he’s shown what he can do, so hopefully, from here he can kick on and get more appearances for the club.”

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Devine arrived at Tottenham from Wigan Athletic in the summer. It’s good to see the teenager making such huge strides this early in his spell at the club. It will be interesting to see whether Jose Mourinho gives the 16-year-old more minutes going forward in the season.