Tottenham Hotspur are on the brink of relegation to the Championship in what would be the biggest story in the Premier League since Leicester City won the title ten years ago.
The north London club were held to a 2-2 draw by Brighton at home on Saturday evening thanks to an injury-time equaliser by Georginio Rutter, leaving them one point behind West Ham, having played a game more, with just five games remaining in their campaign.
That has seen new manager Roberto De Zerbi pull out all the stops to try and turn things around, and it showed again with the surprising selection of James Maddison in the match-day squad for the first time this season against the Seagulls.
Maddison On Bench vs Brighton
Maddison hasn't played for Spurs this season after suffering an ACL injury during pre-season under Thomas Frank, and he had not been expected to return before the end of the campaign as a result of his recovery.
However, fans were stunned when the team news came out 75 minutes before kick-off and the former England international was listed among the substitutes, despite having been out of team training for almost nine months.
Maddison was an unused substitute in the game, as De Zerbi instead opted to call upon Joao Palhinha, Archie Gray, Mathys Tel, Djed Spence, and Lucas Bergvall to try and change the game at different stages.
But it's likely that the 29-year-old playmaker was never really in contention to find himself on the pitch at any point during the game anyway, and that his inclusion was just a way to provide a boost to players, fans, and anyone associated with the club ahead of the game.
Maddison Inclusion Was Symbolic
De Zerbi admitted this week that the medical team pushed Mohammed Kudus too hard to return from injury, which led to a setback and means he may now miss the World Cup as a result.
But the club did bring Rodrigo Bentancur back into the fold immediately following his return from injury, with the Uruguayan playing for 67 minutes before being replaced. It shows that De Zerbi isn't afraid to use players he feels will help the team.
In Maddison's case, he was in the squad as a symbol that the good times are coming back. He's clearly not fit enough to play yet, but his leadership within the changing room has often been spoken about, and the morale boost his name would've brought will only have helped the atmosphere on the day.
While the decision ultimately backfired, it also quite clearly had a positive effect, with the crowd fully behind their team until the end. Now they need to get points from those performances, or face a trip down to the Championship.