Harry Winks’ impressive substitute appearance provides Tottenham with selection headache

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Tottenham Hotspur fell to defeat against Manchester City on Monday night, yet the bright substitute appearance of Harry Winks was a prominent positive takeaway from the match.

The 22-year-old replaced Eric Dier on 67 minutes and played an instrumental role in Spurs’ late push for an equaliser.

Winks’ sharp turns, purposeful bursting runs forward, and intelligent passes revitalised a tired-looking Tottenham side and nearly led the north Londoners to level the scores at one.

Although Winks replaced Dier against Manchester City, the impressive form of Winks led to questions being asked over whether Mousa Dembele should keep his place in the starting lineup in future matches.

Mauricio Pochettino started Winks ahead of Dembele against West Ham in the last Premier League match, but reinstated Dembele to the starting XI against the champions.

At 31 years of age, the Belgian international is no longer the powerhouse he used to be, and although Winks offers far less defensive security than Dembele, the Englishman clearly has the ability to make Spurs more threatening when he’s on the pitch.

Considering the dreadful pitch conditions at Wembley and the tough competition Spurs faced, Harry Winks turned in a hugely impressive performance that surely must have Pochettino considering placing the midfielder back in his first-choice starting lineup.