Ryan Sessegnon gave an honest assessment of his Tottenham side after their goalless draw against Brentford on Saturday. The 21-year-old replaced Sergio Reguilon in the starting line-up for the first time since his injury, which had seen him out of action since the 5-0 victory over Everton.
Ahead of the tie, Antonio Conte revealed that the Spaniard was in fact carrying a slight injury of his own. "First of all, Sergio is suffering a bit of groin pain, medical department is trying to monitor the situation," the Italian explained.
"We are trying to take care of this problem, to solve this problem. He's available for the bench."
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Reguilon has stepped in during Sessegnon's absence, but the defender hasn't been able to make the required impact in recent matches and the Englishman starting at the Brentford Community Stadium was a swap welcomed by many fans. Before his injury, the 21-year-old had found some solid form and was adding the attacking flare to the wing-back role that others were struggling to do.
However, it wasn't exactly the return Conte would've hoped for, from Sessegnon. The wing-back had a nervy start and although he made a couple of good challenges, he failed to make the required impact down the left flank.
In his post-match interview with Spurs TV, he admitted that Tottenham were prepared for the difficulty of their opponents. "We knew coming into the game, they've won three games on the bounce and we're coming off a defeat ourselves, so we know when the fans get behind this team it's going to be a difficult game and that's what it was today," Sessegnon admitted.
"Obviously I'm happy to be back in the team but again, it was one of those difficult ones to come back into." The 21-year-old made five clearances and produced eight crosses during his 74 minutes on the pitch, but also made a number of mistakes with his passing and crossing.
Sessegnon said that he had "thankfully" come out of the game ok, despite his recent injury and spoke about what he needs from Conte, in the final stretch of the season. "I'm still trying to find my feet again, my fitness, but the more minutes I play, the more comfortable I'm going to feel going forward.
"Obviously we dropped points today but we've got another game next week, at home, in front of our fans, so we need to go there and win the game," he explained. It was a big chance for Sessegnon to impress and try and prove why he should be in the regular 11, ahead of Reguilon, when the duo are both fit.
This wasn't the case and the 21-year-old did make mistakes during his display, much like a number of the Tottenham players. However, as the defender highlights, he hasn't had regular game time due to his injury and this may have had an impact on his performance.
Sessegnon has had to slot back into the lineup against a tough side when the pressure is on Tottenham to secure three points. He has made nine other Premier League appearances so far this season and after his recovery, there was hope he could come back and make an immediate impact.
Therefore could it just be that the defender needs some more match minutes to get back to the form he was in before his absence? If Reguilon does need some time on the sideline to recover from his knock then Conte will rely on Sessegnon to step up in Tottenham's final five games of the season, as their battle for a top-four spot continues.
