Brennan Johnson returns to Nottingham Forest tonight still waiting for lift-off after his £47.5million move to Tottenham on deadline day.
He has already scored for Spurs, though his early goal against Wolves was quickly forgotten after a stoppage-time defeat, and crossed for Dejan Kulusevski's equaliser in the breathless 3-3 draw at Manchester City.
The Wales forward has been effective and frustrating in equal measure so far, and the 22-year-old was particularly disappointing in the defeat by West Ham last week.
Ange Postecoglou believes Johnson needs 'a moment' to give him the belief and killer conviction the head coach demands from his players in the final third — and last weekend's 4-1 win over Newcastle suggests it is coming.
Johnson looked happier back on the right wing and twice struck the post with fierce efforts as Spurs threatened to run riot in their first win in six games.
For Johnson, it would obviously be fitting if his breakthrough came back at the City Ground against his beleaguered former club, where he came through the ranks and made over 100 appearances.
Postecoglou is mindful that Johnson is still adjusting to the expectations that come with a hefty price tag, but believes Spurs supporters have seen nothing of him yet.
"There's always some pressure there and I always bear in mind that he's 22," Postecoglou said. "Regardless of how much we say to them, 'Don't worry about the price tag, don't worry about the expectation level', they are human beings, so it affects them one way or another.
"Even if he's taken a while to adjust, he's shown already that he can go up a level. I've been really pleased with him.
"It's always hard when players come in late in the window, particularly to a new environment, because it's not like we were already established and he just had to plug in. The whole group was still learning how we are going to play, and he's walked in last minute. The big thing is that we know there's still loads more to come [from him]."
Johnson tweaked his hamstring on his first Spurs start, the draw at Arsenal on September 24, and missed a month of football, and Postecoglou has had little choice but to play him since his return. Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon and Ryan Sessegnon are all sidelined long-term, while Richarlison has only recently returned from a month out. Giovani Lo Celso is the latest to join the injury list, which is likely to mean Kulusevski playing in midfield tonight.
There are signs, though, that Johnson is starting to understand what is expected of him in Postecoglou's ultra-attacking side — and if he can be as devastating from the right wing as Heung-min Son was on the left against Newcastle, then Spurs will be hard to contain.
"The last few weeks you can see that Brennan's starting to feel at ease with himself in what we're trying to do," Postecoglou added. "Especially in that front third, you need the players to play with a bit more freedom, albeit at the same time he's taking in a lot of information. I think he was really good last weekend and unlucky not to score, but his general game was really good.
"Sonny's helped him enormously, but ask any player in the group and they'd say Sonny has been a big part of helping them settle into what we're doing here."
Postecoglou is unlikely to tinker with his front three after Richarlison's double against Newcastle, and Spurs appear to be playing Forest at a good time.
Steve Cooper's side are winless in five matches and their strong home form has evaporated, but Postecoglou believes their opponent's form should count for little.
"It's going to be a difficult game," he said. "I know their results haven't been great, but at home they're still very hard to beat. No one was going through a worse trot than we were a week ago and we ended up winning 4-1. You always kind of balance these things up."
