Harry Winks says he’s “100%” after League Cup start for Tottenham

It’s been a long recovery from injury for Harry Winks, but the Tottenham Hotspur academy graduate midfielder says he’s back now and ready to get back into the first team action for Spurs. Winks made his first start for Spurs since he was stretchered off after a weird sideline incident last April in a match against Burnley.

Apart from the odd late substitution in the Premier League, we haven’t really seen much of Winksy this season, which made some wonder if he had been eclipsed in Pochettino’s roster by someone like Moussa Sissoko. Not so, says Winksy, who said that that ankle injury is what kept him off the pitch, both for Spurs and for England’s U21s.

"Obviously I've been struggling a little bit with my ankle so it was a good chance to put everything to bed, get a good 90 minutes. I feel like I'm 100 percent now. It was a perfect opportunity to really put everything behind me and just move on, and start the season from now.

"I've been playing with a little bit of a niggle here and there. In the last week-and-a-half or two weeks, it really started to get back to normal and I'm delighted with that. I got pulled out of the England U21 squad just to try and get it right. I got some advice from some specialists and since then it's really started to progress and I'm really happy with that.”

Reports are that Winks had a solid enough stint in the League Cup against Barnsley, but didn’t quite show the ability that he displayed early last season. According to Winksy, that has more to do with just getting back into match fitness.

"It's difficult when you're playing at 70 percent in training and you know you're really giving it everything you can, but there's a little bit of pain here and there, which is frustrating. But it's football. Luckily enough I can say, touch wood, that everything's OK now and it's really feeling good and I'm feeling confident and strong.

"We've got a lot of games coming up. They come thick and fast so it's a good time for me to really start feeling 100 percent now and start to kick on."

That’s excellent news for Spurs, who have a bit of a depth issue at central midfield and a lot of matches to play this season. With Mousa Dembele not able to play more than one match a week and Victor Wanyama still out injured himself, Spurs need Winksy back in the rotation and playing his best as the matches will start to come fast and furious.