Tottenham defender Ben Davies has urged his team-mates to make a fast start when they restart their Premier League campaign on Friday. Jose Mourinho’s side face a vital showdown with Manchester United in north London in their first game since the coronavirus lockdown in March.
Tottenham go into the game in eighth place, four points behind fifth-placed United and a further three adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea in the race to qualify for the Champions League. Tottenham were struggling before the pandemic, going six games without a win in all competitions and crashing out of the Champions League and FA Cup.
But they will be boosted by the return from injury of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Moussa Sissoko, and Davies believes they can hit the ground running against United.
“It is a huge game in our season. If we start off on the front foot it can really give us a big platform and confidence to push on for the rest of the season,” Davies told Tottenham’s website.
“We know that this game is vital going into the final bit of our season to where we want to finish. It’s been a long preparation for it but we can’t wait to get going.”
Davies played in a two-hour training match against Norwich on Friday, after which the fragility of the restart process was made apparent when it was reported a Canaries player had tested positive for the virus.
Tottenham issued a statement confirming that the player in question had not breached any social distancing rules during the match, and preparations for the United fixture would proceed accordingly.
Speaking before news of the test, Davies added: “It was really nice to be back and it is something we are going to have to get used to – playing in an empty stadium and making sure we’re up and at it.”
