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Football London
Football London
Sport
Alasdair Gold

Highly-rated young Spurs duo draw rave reviews from managers and fans after making loan debuts

Jack Roles and Anthony Georgiou drew plenty of praise after their Football League debuts on Tuesday night soon after making their moves.

Both players featured in pre-season for Mauricio Pochettino against top opposition from around Europe and in a week when Spurs have been sorting out their older academy players with loan moves, Roles and Georgiou impressed their new fans straight away.

Roles, 20, only signed for League Two side Cambridge United earlier on Tuesday on a loan deal until January, but was drafted straight into their starting XI for the dramatic 3-2 victory against Scunthorpe United.

Roles took the number 30 shirt and his attacking play, included spins, tricks and flicks and testing the keeper with plenty of shots created plenty of excitement among the fans. It was his first experience of competitive first team football and he impressed.

"He was a different class. Always looking up, tricky on the ball, great eye for a pass. Looking forward to the next few months with him!" tweeted the Cambridge United Wales account.

The club's official account tweeted after the game: "Quick question @SpursOfficial - this lad @JackRoles_ you’ve lent us... is he actually a wizard?"

United's manager Colin Calderwood, the former Spurs defender, said about Roles' signing: "This opportunity has arisen due to Tottenham's ambition for Jack to gain further experience out on loan. Jack showed no hesitation in coming here either and in fact it was his eagerness to come to Cambridge United once we put an offer forward that has allowed the move to be pushed through so quickly.

"It has also been an easy loan to make happen from a financial point of view.

"Jack Roles scores goals, is the feedback we receive from everybody when they speak about him so we're delighted to have Jack here. We're hopeful he can add further threat to our attacking options."

Georgiou signed for League One side Ipswich Town until January on Monday and the following day was came on at half-time for the Tractor Boys in their 2-1 victory against AFC Wimbledon, with his new side scoring two late goals to grab all three points.

The winger, who can also play at left-back enjoyed a fruitful loan with Levante B in Spain last season and made his Spurs debut in the Champions League against Apoel Nicosia a couple of seasons ago.

Ipswich boss Paul Lambert was full of praise for the 22-year-old Cyprus international, who also signed a new two-year deal at Spurs, after the match.

"Anthony did great when he came on. He gave us a spark," he said.

"We thank Tottenham for letting him come here. He only trained with us yesterday and probably doesn't know the names of the players yet but he livened the stadium up. I’m delighted with him."

George Marsh also moved on this week, signing on loan for Leyton Orient until January, and the 20-year-old was an unused substitute in their 3-2 win at Mansfield. Marsh made his Spurs debut last season in the FA Cup win at Tranmere.

Orient's interim head coach Ross Embleton said on signing Marsh: "I’ve been quoted before saying that any young players we bring in on loan, especially on their first loan experience, it is really important that we get the right character and a player suited to the level of football they are coming in to.

"George and the way he is and the level of intensity in how he works certainly gives him the opportunity to make this a successful loan period for him and make a big impression on us."

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