Thursday 25 September 2014 10:41, UK
Ryan Mason was revelling in his patience finally paying off after his superb strike set Tottenham up for a 3-1 Capital One Cup win over Nottingham Forest.
The 23-year-old midfielder, who has had to wait for a chance to stake his claim at Spurs after several spells out on loan, cancelled out Jorge Grant's opener with a sweetly struck drive from 25 yards in the 72nd minute, before Roberto Soldado and Harry Kane completed the comeback.
He was visibly buzzing after opening his account for Spurs and was delighted to have made a valuable contribution for Mauricio Pochettino's men.
"I've been waiting for that for a very long time. It was obviously nice to come on, get the goal and change the way the game was going," he told Sky Sports 1 HD.
"I've always been confident in my ability. I've had to wait a lot longer than other players but I can't moan I came on tonight and I thought I made a difference."
Andros Townsend, whose goal-bound shot was deflected in by Soldado, felt a number of players put their hands up for selection ahead of the north London derby this weekend as Spurs claimed their first win in five matches.
"The performances have been okay but the results have not been there so it was good to get a morale-boosting win with the big game coming up on Saturday," he said.
"The manager made a lot of changes tonight but I think the lads that played tonight showed that they are good enough to be selected on Saturday so I'm sure the manager has got a few problems and he'll want that."
