Archie Gray is eager to continue being fearless in a Tottenham shirt after he marked his European debut with a solid display in Thursday’s 3-0 win over Qarabag.
The versatile 18-year-old made his second Spurs start since a £40million transfer from Leeds in July and provided plenty of energy at right-back.
Gray featured heavily in that position for Leeds during the 2023-24 campaign and while he is a midfielder by trade, the teenager regularly popped up in the middle against Qarabag given Ange Postecoglou’s desire for inverted full-backs.
At times it allowed Qarabag space in behind, but Gray played his part in an impressive opening Europa League victory for Tottenham, who played with 10 men for 83 minutes after Radu Dragusin’s early red card.
Postecoglou has repeatedly talked up the trust he has in Gray and other youngsters in the squad, which has left the England Under-21 international feeling emboldened.
“I’m really grateful to have the manager we’ve got. I’m a big fan of him,” Gray admitted.
“I’m grateful to have him here and to learn so much off him, it’s a big opportunity for me.
“To hear stuff like that from him, it makes you trust yourself even more and have more confidence to go out there and be fearless.
“That’s what he wants from us and hopefully we can go out and do that every game we’re trusted to be in.”
Gray followed in the footsteps of grandad Frank Gray, who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest in 1980, and great uncle Eddie Gray by featuring in Europe.
It was a proud moment for the former Leeds academy graduate, but the night could have turned ugly after Dragusin was sent off for a seventh-minute pull on Juninho as Spurs’ last man.
However, Postecoglou kept three forwards on the pitch and Brennan Johnson scored five minutes later to continue his rich vein of form with a third consecutive goal.
Pape Sarr and Dominic Solanke added further strikes after half-time in between Toral Bayramov sending a spot-kick over the crossbar in the 58th minute for Qarabag.
Gray told TNT Sports: “Yeah obviously a proud moment for me and my family. To be playing here, I am really grateful to be in this team and I am proud (to make my European debut).
“It was a tough game, especially after the first few minutes. Everyone makes mistakes and obviously Radu didn’t want to do that. We’ll all here for him.
“You try to stay calm. Things happen in football and you’ve just got to be able to get on with it and move on. That’s part of football and the challenge.
“Everyone just took it in their stride I thought and we helped each other on the pitch, which was the main thing.
“We had to change a few things obviously but overall I thought we dealt with it well. We can still move the ball quicker and loads of things we can work on but definitely good to get a result.”