Archie Gray was finally handed his first Tottenham Hotspur start since leaving Leeds United more than two months ago, but he was outshone by a player that flopped under Daniel Farke.
Following his £40m move to Spurs, 18-year-old Gray has been made to wait for his first start as Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville already have picked up starts at Brighton and West Ham since going.
But on Wednesday night, that changed. Despite remaining an unused sub in Tottenham’s last two games in the Premier League against Newcastle and Arsenal, he was thrown in to the starting XI at Coventry.
A difficult game for Spurs, who actually went behind to Brandon Thomas Asante’s goal just after the hour mark for Mark Robins’ side. But two late Tottenham goals saw Spurs progress past Coventry to win 2-1.
Gray solid at right-back but Djed Spence steals the limelight
While Gray played a whopping 52 times for Leeds last season, Djed Spence managed just seven Leeds outings. Injured immediately after his debut and out for three months, Spence only played six more times.
His attitude was questioned with Spence said to have been unimpressed with playing on the left of the defence. Spence even turned up late to the meeting with Farke, when told his loan would be cancelled.
But coming on at half-time on the left of Tottenham’s defence, Spence starred for Ange Postecoglou’s men while Gray failed to prove why he cost £40m in the summer, a huge amount of cash sent to Leeds.
WhoScored stats show Spence miles better than Gray last night
Gray got a rating of 6.61, failing to offer anything in an attacking sense. The 18-year-old was solid in defence, making a couple of tackles but he was miles out of position for Thomas-Asante’s opener.
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Meanwhile, Spence showed a whole lot more in his 45 minutes. A rating of 7.48, Spence started the move that led to his goal. He also made two tackles and boasted a better passing rate, 92.9% over Gray’s 90.7%.