Ben Davies embraces ‘fun’ new role in Tottenham squad after surprise role in goal

Davies has been widely used as a left back in a back three since Antonio Conte arrived 18 months ago but played out of position in Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham and set up the first Emerson Royal game.

A hamstring injury to Ryan Sessegnon means Ivan Perisic is Spurs’ only left-back option and Davies, originally a full-back when he signed in 2014, was used impressively there in a win vital which brought them back to fourth place.

Tottenham host Chelsea on Sunday in the first of five matches across three competitions over a two-week period and their Wales international could continue in that role.

“I played there a few times at the end of games under Conte, but I didn’t start there under him,” Davies said.

“But it’s something I picked up the details of [for] in training that we did regularly with Conte, so it’s not something that worries me. It was nice.

“When you’re in this position you have to be defensive, but you also have to try to join in the attack. It’s something I’m happy to do for the team, it was fun.

Spurs’ inconsistent form this season was best evidenced in the past fortnight when they beat champions Manchester City to suffer a 4-1 defeat at Leicester before AC Milan took the upper hand in the their draw in the Champions League with a 1-0. victory in the first leg on Tuesday.

Conte was criticized for being too attached to his 3-4-3 formation, but the perfect response was when his two wingers combined against West Ham.

Davies admitted some home truths had been aired after the back-to-back defeats, adding: “I think we definitely had to be [more honest]especially after last weekend.

“When you have a result like we did against Leicester, it’s hard to come back and the best thing to do is come clean and put it to bed.

“That’s what we did a few days after the game and I think you saw a team that was united, everyone was on the same page, everyone was working hard and trying to take three points. .”

Spurs were victorious without Conte, who was ordered to rest by medics on Wednesday after rushing his recovery from gallbladder surgery on February 1.

He was still in regular contact with assistant Cristian Stellini and first-team coach Ryan Mason during the game and spoke to his players on Saturday night, but the team’s ‘leaders’ were asked to to intervene.

“That’s what Cristian really asked of us, for the experienced boys to do their part,” Davies said.

“It’s not easy when you don’t have your manager here, but Cristian and the manager really made it clear to us that if Cristian speaks, it’s also the voice of the manager. So we worked hard, we got everything given and we are very satisfied with the result for both.

Additional reports by AP.