Eric Dier: Mauricio Pochettino won't play 'any' Tottenham youngster - you have to deserve it

Faith: Pochettino is not afraid to play Tottenham's youngsters
Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Sam Long28 March 2016

Eric Dier has claimed Mauricio Pochettino only plays youngsters who 'deserve' to feature for Tottenham's first-team.

Spurs are riding high in second place in the Premier League table and the Argentine manager's willingness to utilise young players has been heralded as a key reason for the club's improvement.

Dier is one of several players to have been handed a chance to prove their worth by Pochettino and has thrived under the 44-year-old's guidance after being converted into a central midfielder.

But the 23-year-old is adamant Pochettino does not field youngsters for the sake of it: "You’ve got to deserve it," he insisted.

England train at Tottenham ahead of Netherlands match

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“Everyone gets a bit excited with the whole youth thing, but I think at our club the manager [Mauricio Pochettino] won’t just play any youngster."

Tottenham's young stars have also received international recognition with Dier, Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Danny Rose all excelling during England's recent victory over Germany.

Dier believes he and his White Hart Lane colleagues are deserving of their places in the Three Lions' set up and relished a chance to compete against the World Champions.

“Us guys have been playing well for our clubs so I think we deserved to get a chance here.

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“The Germany game was a brilliant test, to play against these established players - they’re very, very good players - and it was brilliant to test ourselves.

“No matter how good you are, how well you play, how well you are tactically, they’re going to create chances. I think we limited them and we did well with that," Dier added.

Although the Spurs representatives impressed n Berlin Roy Hodgson is expected to make widespread changes to his side for Tuesday's international friendly against the Netherlands at Wembley.

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