Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says Archie Gray’s stint at centre-back against Bournemouth will make him a better player.
Though the summer signing from Leeds United is a midfielder by trade, his versatility saw him plug more than one gap during Spurs’ disappointing 1-0 loss at the Vitality Stadium on Thursday night.
Starting at right-back, Gray switched to the heart of Tottenham’s defence - with Pedro Porro occupying his usual full-back role - after Ben Davies was forced to make way just after the hour mark with a suspected hamstring injury.
Already without Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, Spurs were already short of natural centre-back options and the Welshman's injury sparks somewhat of a crisis ahead of Sunday's London derby against Chelsea.
Postecoglou has since suggested a late decision will be made on on the Argentina international’s fitness ahead of the huge clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“Cuti is due to train, we're not doing much today but we'll see how he goes tomorrow,” he told reporters.
In the scenario that Romero is not passed fit to face the Blues, Gray could be in line to fill at centre-back alongside Radu Dragusin, as he did for the final 30 minutes against the Cherries.
Despite the 18-year-old having extremely limited experience in the position, it would appear that Postecoglou would have no qualms in handing the youngster a new role for the visit of Chelsea.
"He’ll be better for it," the Spurs boss said. "It was a good experience for him, it wasn’t easy, it was tough, particularly when we put him at centre-back but it will do him the world of good, make him a better player and a stronger personality for our football club."
