Mauricio Pochettino urges patience with Tottenham youngster Troy Parrott

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Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino insists that academy graduate Troy Parrott needs time after he made his first-team debut on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup.

The highly-rated striker came in for his first senior appearance, as he started in the third round of the cup away to League Two outfit Colchester United.

But it was a night to forget for the North London club, as they were held to a goalless draw after 90 minutes and knocked out of the competition on penalties in a major upset.

There is real pressure building now at Spurs after a relatively poor start to the season and the midweek result will not have helped.

One small positive to come out of the game was the debut given to Parrott, who has been dynamite at Under-23s level and was drafted in for the cup much to the excitement of supporters.

Parrott was named in the starting XI and lasted 66 minutes before being substituted off for senior player Christian Eriksen.

The 17-year-old did have an effort deflect across goal and he tried his best to get involved, but there was a lack of quality across the team on the night.

Pocehttino explained after the game that the teenage centre-forward needs time adjusting to the elite level, but does have great confidence in him.

“He needs time, he is so young. For sure he is going to be a very important player for Tottenham in the future but maybe it needs one or two years of being involved and playing in this type of game,” Pochettino said in his post-match press conference, as quoted by Football.London.

“We need to create this belief and space again for the younger players to find their natural space in the squad. We are still trying to fix this.”

TBR’s View:

Parrott was introduced to senior football in very difficult circumstances, but it should only help his development and surely it won’t be the last time fans see him in the first-team this season.

The Irishman has shown at youth level he’s a clinical finisher and it just didn’t quite happen for him against Colchester.

With England captain Harry Kane the main striker at Spurs, he’s the perfect role model for Parrott to try learn from and he’s still just a 17-year-old finding his way into the game.