Thursday 5 March 2020 14:53, UK
Harry Winks says he was honoured to be handed the Tottenham captaincy after reacting well to an "honest" heart-to-heart with Jose Mourinho.
The midfielder has revealed he was asked to train harder after he lost his place earlier this season, and the club added new midfielder Gedson Fernandes to the squad in January.
Winks has since become one of the first names on the team sheet in recent weeks and was given the captaincy of his boyhood club for the first time in the home defeat to Wolves last Sunday.
He told Sky Sports News: "It was a massive moment for me and my family. It's something I've always dreamt of doing, to walk out leading the team with the armband on for the club I've supported all my life.
"He (Mourinho) just pulled me aside before the game and said 'you're captain today'. I was a bit taken aback and really honoured and happy about it.
"I'm getting older now. I've been with the squad for a while and I'm starting to feel more comfortable to be able to be more assertive, and I think the boys are starting to see me in a different way to how I was when I first came through the academy, and I can be a bit more vocal than I was a couple of years ago."
Mourinho made the call just hours before last Sunday's 3-2 loss, after skipper Hugo Lloris sustained a groin injury, with Harry Kane also out injured, and the more experienced Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen on the bench.
Winks was highly-rated by previous manager Mauricio Pochettino, and he is rated by England boss Gareth Southgate, and he now appears to have a future under Mourinho following talks with the Portuguese.
"When he first came in I think I played the first two or three matches," Winks said. "Then I picked up an ankle injury and the team was doing well, so it was difficult to get back in.
"I had an honest chat with the manager and he told me I needed to work harder in training - and I took it on board - and since then I haven't really looked back."
Winks is a graduate of Tottenham's academy and the 24-year-old does not take for granted his memories of training on a small court next door to what is now the state-of-the-art, 62,303-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
He made his first Premier League start against West Ham, scoring the opener in a 3-2 win and, although now impressing in a deeper role, Winks says he wants to score more goals having only scored once more since.
"We trained on a little ball court next to White Hart Lane," he said. "Driving up there with my mum and dad after work, sitting in the rush-hour traffic, while having a bit of food in the back seat, then training - I loved it.
"(My first-team debut) was such a big game and the manager (Pochettino) put such a lot of trust in me. I didn't expect to score. It was more just get out there, get through the game, enjoy it and hopefully win. It was incredible.
"I want to score more goals, of course, but I also enjoy playing deeper. I know what my role is. I know what my strengths are. My role isn't being in that final third and scoring lots of goals, but what I'm doing for the team, and expected to do, I'm happy with.
"I've never been the tall, strong, physical one who's managed to get loads of goals, as much as I'd love to add more to my game."
