Spurs man ‘never contemplated’ January exit

Rob McCarthy
Ben Davies: Never thought about leaving Spurs in January

Ben Davies: Never thought about leaving Spurs in January

Tottenham defender Ben Davies insists he never contemplated leaving in the January transfer window despite playing second fiddle to Danny Rose.

Rose’s brilliant form meant Davies made only three starts in Spurs’ first 22 Premier League matches but his persistence has been rewarded in recent weeks.

A knee injury to Rose, which will keep the England left-back out for another month at least, has offered Davies the chance of an extended run in the first team.

Davies is expected to start again when Spurs host Everton on Sunday and he maintains he has never questioned his future at White Hart Lane.

“I was always sure I was going to be here,” Davies said.

“My contract here is secure and every club needs two players for every position. I didn’t really contemplate leaving. The manager told me I was important to the club and that’s all I saw.

“It’s a new experience and in fairness Danny has been playing some unbelievable football, and you just have to be patient and wait for your chance to come.

“Every day we push each other to be as good as we can be and that can only be good for Tottenham.”

This weekend’s clash against Everton could also be billed as the battle of the league’s top scorers as Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku, both on 17 goals this season, go head to head.

While Davies, along with the rest of Tottenham’s back-line, will be tasked with keeping Lukaku quiet, his Welsh team-mate and Everton centre-half Ashley Williams will have the job of containing Kane.

“I’ve played with Ash for years now and he is a top, top defender,” Davies said.

“For him, his first job is defending, not playing out of defence or anything else, none of the ‘nonsense’ as he would call it.

“It is going to be a tough game for Harry but I can see him doing it against any defender in the game, so Ash will be up for a tough day.

“They are both top players and have played against each other that many times, they’ll know what they are up against. Hopefully Harry can come out on top for us.”