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Tottenham’s Alfie Devine produced a world-class strike for Preston North End to help them emerge with all three points from an away trip to Derby County.

Devine had joined Preston on a season-long loan deal after extending his Tottenham contract in the summer, and the attacking midfielder has made an impressive start to life at Deepdale.

Devine scored in his first start for Preston against Leicester last month and has been getting regular football under his belt.

The Tottenham youngster has already won over the Preston faithful, and his heroics on Saturday will only further endear him to the Championship club’s supporters.

Tottenham’s Alfie Devine scores a world-class goal against Derby

Devine started as part of a midfield three as Preston lined up in a 3-5-2 against Derby, and the Tottenham man got 85 minutes under his belt.

The Spurs youngster scored the game’s only goal in 29 minutes, and it was undoubtedly the best strike he has produced in his senior career so far.

Devine received the ball centrally and unleashed a strike with his left foot from over 20 yards out, which flew into the top corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance.

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This season is make-or-break for Devine

The 21-year-old has not developed as quickly as some at Hotspur Way would have hoped for and has stagnated a bit over the last two seasons.

Alasdair Gold has said that this could be a make-or-break season for Alfie Devine and his aspirations of forcing himself into the Tottenham first-team set-up.

The attacking midfielder has certainly made a strong start to the season and Spurs fans will be hoping that this is the season where his potential finally starts to be realised.

Thomas Frank has eased some concerns around Tottenham injuries after offering a positive update on Randal Kolo Muani, with the striker’s absence against Brighton explained and hopes of a swift return shared by the manager.

Thomas Frank has had a few injuries to contend with since his move to Tottenham Hotspur during the summer.

James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are long-term absentees for the Dane, while Radu Dragusin continues to work his way back to full fitness following his ACL injury last term.

Against Brighton and Hove Albion, Tottenham welcomed Destiny Udogie into the starting eleven for the first time this season after a few spells on the sideline.

However, there were still some absentees from the Tottenham squad, with Dominic Solanke, Kota Takai and Kolo Muani all missing from the matchday group.

Frank has since revealed that Muani suffered a dead leg and that was the reason for his absence, but the Tottenham boss has now provided a further update on how long he could be out.

Speaking to football.london, Frank explained the situation in more detail when asked about Muani: “Hopefully, it was a dead leg. He has actually been struggling with it for four or five days. It is just not settling as we hoped for. So hopefully Wednesday.”

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Spurs could be boosted by potential returns

Muani might not be the only Tottenham player in line for a return this midweek under Thomas Frank, with several other injured stars edging closer to full fitness.

Kota Takai and Dominic Solanke, who have also spent spells on the sidelines, are back in training outdoors and could be in contention, although it remains to be seen how the manager decides to rotate.

Thomas Frank has revealed what has impressed him the most about one of his new Tottenham Hotspur stars so far this season.

Some pundits were not convinced by Tottenham’s signing of Mohammed Kudus, pointing out that he had a tendency to blow hot and cold at West Ham.

However, the winger has been Mr Consistent for Tottenham Hotspur so far this season, having been the only attacker who has started every single game for the Lilywhites so far.

The Ghana international was a handful for the Brighton defence on Saturday, showcasing his strength and one-v-one ability again, and Frank has now waxed lyrical about one part of his game.

Thomas Frank reveals what is unique about Mohammed Kudus at Tottenham

Kudus assisted both goals as Tottenham came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at the Amex Stadium.

Frank has lauded the former Hammers star’s work ethic and remarked that the Ghanaian’s ability to hold up the ball and beat his man is a huge plus to his side.

When asked what has impressed him the most about Kudus so far, the Spurs head coach said (via Football.London): “I think two things. One, his work ethic has been really good. It’s big for me, how hard he works in the counter-press, high pressure, defensive side of it.

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“But his hold-up play, when it goes into him, it just sticks. You can’t get it off him. So he just keeps it, he doesn’t lose a 50-50 ball. And then the third thing is his one-on-one ability is crazy. He’s so strong, he’s so explosive. He just dominated the right-hand side.”

Frank believes he can improve several Spurs players

Back in the summer, Daniel Levy mentioned Frank’s ability to improve players as one of the main reasons Tottenham hired him.

We have already seen him do that with some players in the squad, and the Dane insisted that he and his coaching staff will continue working with the players to make tiny tweaks to their game.

When asked about his track record of improving players at Brentford and whether he can get around 10 or 20 per cent more from individuals at Tottenham, the 51-year-old responded: “Hopefully. We try to put a good structure in place. Offensively and defensively, clear principles. Keep reinforcing the right messages.

“For example, today we put so many crosses in. That’s a big part of what we want to do. There could be a little bit more quality, we could also have a little bit more runs.

“And then we’ll keep coaching them, running in the right gaps. I think if Richy had run in the right gaps, he’d have scored maybe two goals more today, for example. I believe any player can keep developing. That’s a big part of what I believe in, and my coaching staff believe in as well.”

Tottenham assistant coach Matt Wells has revealed why he is proud of his players after they salvaged a draw against Brighton.

A little over half an hour into Saturday’s game at the Amex Stadium, it appeared as if Tottenham Hotspur were in for a typically chastening Premier League away day, of which they had many last season.

The Lilywhites had conceded two goals against the run of play despite dominating early proceedings, and the home crowd had found their voices.

Given Tottenham’s physical and mental exertions against Villarreal in midweek, it would have been easy for them to crumble, but what we saw instead was the players throw everything they had at the Seagulls, and salvage a well-deserved point.

Matt Wells hails Tottenham’s mentality in Brighton comeback

Time and again last season, we saw Spurs crumble away from home in the Premier League, but this side proved at the Amex Stadium that they are cut from a different cloth.

Wells was part of the coaching staff under the previous regime and has seen the team’s transformation first-hand, and he took to Instagram to hail the mentality shown by the players.

The Tottneham assistant coach wrote: “An elite mentality shown today to come back from being behind. Proud of these players, a group united, ready to fight for everything together. Unbeaten week, now we prepare for Wednesday night back home.”

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Tottenham’s squad depth comes to the fore

Frank has not been shy of rotating his squad even in the early stages of the season, and the players who have come into the side have delivered.

Lucas Bergvall showed his class against West Ham and Villarreal, while Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert delivered against Brighton.

The only place where Frank has not rotated is in central defence, and some pundits believe that Tottenham have to keep Romero and Van de Ven fit to have a good season.

With Dominic Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin to come back into the side (and eventually James Maddison), the squad is certainly looking strong.

Michael Owen has been very impressed with what he has seen of Tottenham Hotspur under Thomas Frank this season.

While Tottenham Hotspur may not have got the result they wanted at the Amex Stadium, they showed a different string to their bow.

So far this season, Spurs have been defensively resolute but have sometimes struggled to click into gear in attack.

However, they were firing on all cylinders going forward at the Amex Stadium, and in the end, would have felt that they fashioned enough opportunities to have taken all three points despite going 2-0 down.

Michael Owen claims momentum keeps building for Tottenham

Thomas Frank has praised the resilience that Tottenham showed against Brighton after they came back from two goals down to salvage a point.

Owen remarked he thought Spurs were playing well even at 2-0 down and admitted that the Lilywhites look a completely different unit to the one they did last season.

The pundit told PremierLeague.com about Tottenham after their draw at the Amex Stadium: “Totally different style of play, different tactics [to Ange Postecoglou’s reign]. It looks like a much more functional team. They can defend pretty well, although you wouldn’t have said that in the first few minutes.

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“Even when Brighton were a couple of goals ahead, I thought Spurs were playing alright. I think Spurs do deserve something from the game. Xavi Simons was very good when he came on. The momentum keeps building for Spurs. They’re in a good place at the moment.”

Tottenham’s performance against Brighton was their most encouraging of the season

Frank has said he wants Tottenham to play brave and offensive football, and his side certainly did that against Brighton.

Spurs showed that they can press teams high up the pitch, pin the opposition back and create chances, while not being as open at the back as they were last season.

At this stage of the season, one can argue that performances are more important than results, and Tottenham’s display at the Amex Stadium was evidence that this team can go up several gears once they get used to Frank’s system and principles.

Thomas Frank has hailed the performance of one Tottenham player who was making his first start of the season against the Seagulls.

With Frank, Tottenham Hotspur fans have already come to expect surprises in the starting eleven, and that was the case again on Saturday.

Spurs’ left side had Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert, both of whom were making their first starts of the season.

The pair combined well down the left, which is where most of Tottenham’s attacks came from, especially in the first period, and Frank was pleased with what he saw from the Frenchman.

Thomas Frank assesses Wilson Odobert’s Tottenham performance

Odobert was linked with a move away from Tottenham in the summer, but Frank decided to keep him at the club, and he gave the 20-year-old an opportunity to impress at the Amex Stadium.

The Spurs head coach confessed that he was happy with what he saw from the former Burnley man, claiming that Brighton were afraid to get tight to him.

When asked what he thought of Odobert’s performance, Frank said (via Football.London): “Happy with it, I must admit. I thought he looked lively. Clearly, it looked like they were a little bit afraid of him.

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“So he got time to turn and run forward. I think he produced some crosses, some good opportunities. He was also involved in a goal, worked hard. So, a good first start.”

Frank enjoyed Tottenham’s performance despite the lack of control

So far at Tottenham, Frank has repeatedly emphasised defensive control and has prioritised keeping clean sheets.

The game at the Amex Stadium was thus not typical of what one sees from a Frank side, but the Tottenham boss was delighted with the aggression that his players showed.

When asked if he enjoyed the end-to-end nature of the game, the 51-year-old responded: “I think you always want to control if you can. But I liked how aggressive we were and there were some very good opportunities going forward. And I liked that we looked very dangerous. That I liked a lot, I must admit.”

Thomas Frank has lauded the performance of Xavi Simons for Tottenham against Brighton, but admits he could have had a goal and an assist.

While Tottenham Hotspur started on the front foot at the Amex Stadium, pinning Brighton back, the home side scored two early goals against the run of play.

With Spurs 2-0 down with a little over half an hour played, it was looking like it may be one of those difficult away days in the Premier League, which the Lilywhites endured a lot of last season.

It would have been easy for the Spurs players to let their heads drop, especially after their mid-week exertions against Villarreal, but instead, they rallied and fought back, deservedly leaving the South Coast with a point.

Thomas Frank was very pleased with Xavi Simons’ impact in Tottenham draw

The Dane decided to start with Lucas Bergvall as the number ten behind a double pivot of Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur, but the game changed when he replaced the Uruguayan with Xavi Simons on 61 minutes.

The new Tottenham signing looked extremely lively, and Frank hailed his impact, but admitted that the Dutchman could have ended up with a goal and an assist to his name.

When asked what he thought of Xavi’s performance, the Tottenham boss told Football.London: “Yeah, I’m very, very pleased with that. I think Xavi came in and did exactly what we thought he could do in that 10 position. Of course, he had a good pre-season and he played two games in Germany and all that, but he’s still coming into a team and all that.

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“And I think on any other day, he’d score a goal. He got a great finish on the first one, great save from Verbruggen. And the other one, he mistimes. And I think maybe he could have got an assist to Richy, where Lucas takes the ball, he doesn’t see him.”

Frank makes an admission about Xavi’s position

Xavi has said that he prefers playing as a number ten, and on the evidence of his display against the Seagulls, one can understand why.

The former RB Leipzig man looked far more threatening when he picked up the ball in the central areas as opposed to out wide, but Frank insists that the 22-year-old is more than capable of playing on the left.

When asked if playing as a 10 is a more natural position for Xavi, the Tottenham boss responded: “I think he can play both. I think he can easily play the left winger, that can go more inside. I also think he’d have the right position too.

“Sometimes the playmakers, they drift to the side because there’s no space in the middle. So I think he can do that. But 10, obviously, he can play that as well.”

Joao Palhinha has revealed what the feeling is in the Tottenham dressing room following the draw against Brighton, and has mentioned one aspect of their performance that the Lilywhites can be proud of.

Tottenham Hotspur’s game at the Amex Stadium was very unlike what we have come to expect under Thomas Frank so far.

Frank has emphasised defensive control and keeping clean sheets, and the Tottenham boss would thus not have been happy with the goals that his side conceded in the first half.

However, the Spurs head coach has praised the resilience his side showed against Brighton to come back from 2-0 down to salvage a draw, and Palhinha has now made a bullish claim about Tottenham’s performance.

Joao Palhinha admits Tottenham players are disappointed with a draw

The Portugal international, who came back into the starting eleven against Brighton after being used as a substitute against Villarreal, admits that he and his teammates are disappointed not to walk away with all three points from the Amex Stadium.

The 31-year-old hailed the spirit that his side showed to fight back, but insisted that they did enough to win the game.

Palhinha told Sky Sports: “We leave this stadium feeling really, really sad because in my opinion we completely deserved to win the game.

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“What we showed from the first minute, we dominated the game, created a lot of chances and arrived to the last third in a good shape. We suffered two goals against the run of play, but that’s football.

“At least what we can take is the mentality that we had fighting for the result. It’s not easy, losing 2-0 away and after you get a draw in a tough stadium like this, against a tough team like Brighton.

“Again we leave with the feeling that we could have taken the victory. But now let’s move on and focus on the cup.”

Palhinha lauds one aspect of Tottenham’s play against Brighton

Even though the Lilywhites conceded twice, Palhinha pointed out that Tottenham did not allow Brighton to counter-attack them on many occasions.

The experienced midfielder was pleased with how Spurs controlled the transitions and the chances they fashioned.

The on-loan Bayern Munich man added: “What I felt on the pitch is that we controlled the most part of the game. We did not suffer too many counterattacks, which is good against a team like this because they like to have the ball and create really good chances. We controlled the transitions, not the first one, which resulted in a goal, but in the end, we did a good game and we showed what we can do.

“This mentality needs to be there always, regardless of the result. There are a lot of things for this team to keep improving, but these improvements have come week by week.”

Thomas Frank was mightily impressed with one Tottenham Hotspur star who made his first start of the season against Brighton.

While the Tottenham Hotspur boss has mixed and matched in midfield and in attack over the last few games, he has stuck with the same defensive line.

That changed against Brighton, with Destiny Udogie coming into the starting eleven in place of Djed Spence at left-back.

The Italian served everyone a reminder of the qualities he possesses, getting up and down the pitch all game, being solid in defence, and menacing going forward.

Thomas Frank says Destiny Udogie was ‘unstoppable’ for Tottenham against Brighton

Spence has been extremely consistent for Tottenham at left-back this season, but Udogie showed against the Segaulls what he can offer, particularly with the advantage of being left-footed.

Frank was mightily impressed with how the Italy international performed, describing him as ‘unstoppable’ going forward.

When asked what he made of Udogie’s return to the starting line-up, the Dane responded (via Football.London): “Exceptional. He was exceptional today. He was unstoppable, almost, going forward. And I think also it was a bit unfortunate.

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“It was Wilson who had to track him on the situation, because it was a little bit of a high-pressure situation, the Brighton wonder goal. But he just completely took him out going forward. Very good, just top.”

Frank reveals why he waited so long to give Udogie his first start

Udogie had been nursing an injury in pre-season, and in the meantime, Spence had made the left-back spot his own.

Frank admitted that he has a good problem on his hands with the competition for places at full-back, explaining that Spence’s form meant that he had no reason to rush Udogie back.

When asked if he had been waiting for the former Udinese man to get up to speed physically, the 51-year-old responded: “Yeah, but I must admit, I’ve got three extremely good full-backs. I think Djed’s been fantastic for us. So when another player is doing so well, then there’s no reason to throw Destiny in too early. And I’m pretty sure we need all three throughout the season. That is crucial.

“We are playing, hopefully, around 60 games this season. That’s a lot. I think Liverpool changed both their full-backs from midweek to today. So it’s a big thing. We want fullbacks to come bombarding up and down. So we need everyone. But I’m very happy with Destiny.”

Thomas Frank has explained why he is over the moon with what he saw from the Tottenham players against Brighton, and admits that one aspect of his side’s play gave him ‘goosebumps’.

Spurs will be happy to have salvaged a point from the clash against Brighton, given that they were 2-0 down within the first 31 minutes.

However, on the balance of play, the Lilywhites will feel that they had the chances to come away with all three points from the Amex Stadium.

That is certainly the opinion of Thomas Frank, who admits that he cannot have asked more from his players in terms of intensity.

Thomas Frank was delighted with the mentality of the Tottenham players

The North Londoners were coming off a physically and emotionally draining Champions League clash against Villarreal in mid-week, but one would not have guessed that from the intensity they showed against the Segualls.

Frank claimed that it was his side’s most complete performance of the season, revealing that he got ‘goosebumps’ when watching the recovery runs that his players were making.

When asked if he is happy with the resilience his side showed after going 2-0 down, the Dane told Football.London: “I’m very, very pleased with it. I think there was also a situation the first half, the way we sprinted back on our recovery runs.

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“That’s goosebumps, that’s bread and butter. But you want to be a resilient team because we play against good teams and it will be difficult sometimes. But it’s a good group of players. They want to perform. They are disappointed after the game. Even when we come back, they wanted to win, of course.

“I also think the overall performance played in – I think maybe this was our most complete performance so far in the season. I know we made, you can say we conceded two goals, but I think actually there were so many positives overall in the game.

“Also the high pressure, the man-to-man, very aggressive. But as you say, that resilience in the group, that mentality, is good.”

Frank lauds Tottenham players for the way they pressed

It was Spurs’ first draw of the Frank era, and given that the Tottenham boss has emphasised the importance of clean sheets, he may have been disappointed with the goals that this side conceded.

However, the 51-year-old emphasised the positives, lauding his players for how they pressed the Segulls high up the pitch and counter-pressed when they lost the ball.

When asked why he felt it was Tottenham Hotspur’s most complete performance of the season so far, Frank responded: “I know we conceded two goals, and it’s never that black and white. So one where we will say I should take it. The second one is, OK, we conceded a goal, that can happen. It’s just the Premier League, it’s good. But besides that, I thought we defended well.

“Overall, I think the high pressure was very aggressive, and we were winning the ball back more or less all the time, which we like to do. I think in phase one, we got out every time, more or less. We controlled it up there.

“We created so many good opportunities, and had to counter-press and rest defending crosses. So there was a lot of the bits we like to do, because of that. And then on top of that, the mentality to come back from 2-0 down is so important.”