Tottenham’s Ben Davies enjoying attacking responsibilities in Danny Rose’s absence

Tottenham defender Ben Davies admits he is relishing playing as a left-wing back in Tottenham’s free-flowing system, with Danny Rose out injured.

Davies has been thrown in at the deep end at White Hart Lane after England left-back Rose’s knee injury, featuring in all of Spurs’ last ten games, a run of which has seen him pen a new five-year contract earlier this month.

What’s more, 21-year-old Davies has once again been named in the Wales squad to face the Republic of Ireland in the 2016 European Championship semi-finalists’ World Cup qualifier next week.

The game could see him add to his impressive 28 caps, the first of which came back in 2012, in a 2-1 win over Scotland, when Davies had just eight professional appearances under his belt.

He went on to feature in seven of Wales’ qualifiers for the European Championships last summer and played in every game of Wales’ run to the semi-final, before missing the last-four fixture against Belgium.

With Spurs becoming renowned of late for their attacking full-back play, Davies has had to adapt from his more traditional role as a left-back or left-sided centre-back, especially when Mauricio Pochettino opts for a back three, opposed to a more traditional 4-2-3-1 formation.

In an interview with the club’s official website, Davies said, “I’ve always said that defending is first and foremost for me but it’s a nice little change.

“It’s a lot of running, that’s what me and Trips (Kieran Trippier) had to do against Millwall and what we’ve had to do with Kyle Walker over the last couple of weeks, but in the end it’s always lovely to get a win.

“It’s part and parcel of the position, trying to get forward and trying to help the team score goals. That’s what you want to be part of at the end of the day.”

Injured: Danny Rose.

Davies signed for a fee of £10m from boyhood club Swansea City in 2014 and has gone on to make 79 appearances in all competitions, scoring his solitary goal in the FA Cup win over Aston Villa in January this year.

The Welshman added, “It’s hard work but it’s what you want to do as a footballer, to get as much of the ball as you can out there.

“It’s hard work but it’s great and I certainly can’t complain.

“With every match that’s going by it’s another 90 minutes under my belt so it’s great, especially when we’re winning games like this.”