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Mauricio Pochettino delighted with young players in Spurs system

Image: Mauricio Pochettino: Spurs future looking bright

Mauricio Pochettino is proud of the Tottenham youth system and feels there are plenty more gems to come.

Tottenham's resurgence under Pochettino has seen a number of young players come to the fore, most notably Harry Kane, with the likes of Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb and Eric Dier also playing vital roles.

They host West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday and Pochettino's current crop carries echoes of the Hammers squad that once brought through the likes of Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole and Michael Carrick.

Youth philosophy

"We hear in the past that West Ham had a lot of players in the academy who played in the first team - why can't we be like that?" Pochettino said.

"Our philosophy is to give young talent a chance if they deserve it.

"Why is not possible for us to have a lot players in the team from the academy?"

Tottenham are optimistic about the futures of a number of other academy players including Josh Onomah, 17, and Harry Winks, 19, who have both made their first-team debuts this season, while Alex Pritchard, 21, has impressed while on loan at Brentford and the club's U18 team are through to the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup.

Amazing academy

"We are very proud (of the young players) and the supporters feel that," Pochettino added.

"We have an amazing academy, we just need to give the young players an opportunity to play if they deserve it.

"We feel very good at the club because the academy players have talent and in the future why can't we produce more players?"

"Are there more I expect to come through? Yes, we detect some players who have the ability to play in the first team in the future.

"It's not because their passport is English, it's if they have the ability to play, they deserve the opportunity."

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