Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says that “in this moment” he “believes” in record signing Tanguy Ndombele after he bundled in a late winner against nine-man Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League.
Spurs survived a scare to reach the third qualifying round but were forced to come from behind in Bulgaria.
Georgi Minchev headed Plovdiv ahead on 72 minutes before the home side had two players sent off with 10 minutes left.
Harry Kane levelled from the penalty spot and substitute Ndombele sent Spurs through with the winner in the 85th minute.
The 22-year-old, signed for £54m from Lyon in August 2019, has only started 17 games in all competitions for Tottenham after a 2019/20 season hampered by injuries and criticism from his manager.
“Tanguy is in a process of evolution,” said Mourinho, who in March called for the France midfielder to “give more” in games.
“Last season he wasn’t. Last season he was stuck in a situation where I couldn’t see evolution,” Mourinho added. “In this moment he’s training very, very well. He’s recovering from his injury, he’s recovering physically and [on Thursday] he gave us what we needed in this last 30 minutes. (BBC)