Ben Davies could finally return to action for Tottenham on Sunday after a long injury layoff.
The Welshman has not taken to the pitch for the Lilywhites since Jose Mourinho's first game in charge where they beat West Ham 3-2 in November.
While there's never an ideal time to pick up an injury for any player, it really did come at the worst possible time for Davies as he looked to show the head coach exactly what he can do.
Previously in competition with Danny Rose for a starting spot, the 26-year-old now has Japhet Tanganga to contend with after some excellent displays at left-back in his absence.
Giving an update on Davies' fitness after his return to training at Hotspur Way prior to the winter break, Mourinho also made it perfectly clear that Rose was given his chance in the team despite the Newcastle United loanee claiming otherwise.
"In this moment he's back but he's not back ready to play one, two, three matches in a row," Mourinho said about Davies at his pre-match press conference.
"He's not in the top of his condition. He's not injured. He's training with the team. He can play at least minutes and of course is a player we like very much.
"He's a natural left-back. He's not an adaptation like Tanganga, not an adaptation like Sessegnon who is much more of a winger than a left-back.
"The time he was out was a great opportunity for others to play. For Tanganga it was, in the end, the opportunity of a lifetime, he has played already six or seven full matches with the first team.
"For Ryan it was the acceleration of a process. He has played more matches than normally he would do.
"Even for Danny Rose it was a great opportunity to play three very important matches. He played against Liverpool, he played against Olympiacos, probably the two more important matches we had to play, and against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
"So even for Danny Rose a great opportunity to play three matches and show me what he's capable to do."
