Matt Doherty has praised Dejan Kulusevski for his performance in friendly win over Motherwell

Tottenham Hotspur right-back Matt Doherty has praised forward Dejan Kulusevski for his performance during their 4-0 win over Motherwell in a friendly on Friday (December 9) at The Hotspur Way.

Both the players were in terrific form as the Sweden international opened the scoring and got two assists while the Republic of Ireland international scored a brace to help their side to a comfortable win.

Now while speaking after the game to SPURSPLAY (h/t Football. London), the right-back showered praises on his team-mate.

“He’s vitally important. You see what he brings to the table when he plays and you see how he impacts the team when he doesn’t play.”

Always involved with going forward, whether he’s scoring or creating, and just personally for myself I love playing with him as he understands people’s games around him and understands my game.”

” I like to combine and link so when I give him the ball he can usually lay it off one touch and we seem to link up well together. He’s a pleasure to play with and we’re glad to have him back.”

Kulusevski has been important to us since he joined the club on loan in January earlier this year. The 22-year-old has been a crucial player for Antonio Conte this season and his absence was deeply felt after he picked up a hamstring issue on international duty in September.

But the player made an immediate impact on his return as he notched up assists against Liverpool and Leeds United last month before the season halted for the World Cup break.

Doherty, on the other hand, has had to play second fiddle to Emerson Royal this season. The 30-year-old has played in 11 games in all competitions so far, having made most of his appearances in October and November.

Spurs will have another friendly against French side OGC Nice on December 21 before returning back to Premier League action. The north London side will make a short trip across town to face Brentford on December 26.

The friendlies have been planned very well to ensure that our players resume the season with maximum fitness. The only care we have to take is to ensure no one gets injured during this time.

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Liverpool infamously played a ‘pre-season friendly’ after their first game of the season and lost Ibrahima Konate for a while with an injury. We cannot let that happen to us.