This evening's Carabao Cup game at Colchester United is the perfect chance for Mauricio Pochettino to blood a number of the club's talented youngsters.
Having previously handed debuts to players in the competition since his arrival in north London back in 2014, Troy Parrott and Japhet Tanganga may get their chance in the starting XI after impressive pre-seasons for the Lilywhites.
The duo weren't involved for the U23s in their defeat against Blackburn Rovers on Monday evening and they appear on course to be named in the squad at the JobServe Community Stadium.
George Marsh, who made his debut last campaign in the FA Cup at Tranmere Rovers, would also have been in line to play had he not joined Leyton Orient on loan at the start of the season.
The midfielder actually played against tonight's opponents at the weekend and he named Courtney Senior as one to look out for when the teams go head-to-head.
"Colchester can mix it up, but they are a decent side who look to play football," he told the club's official website.
"They started 4-2-3-1 against us on Saturday. They played well in the first half and went 2-0 up but we pulled a goal back before half-time and in the second half, they went more direct.
"They have forwards (Courtney Senior, Kwame Poku, Theo Robinson) who like to run in behind and midfielders who are good on the ball.
"Most people will have heard of Frank Nouble (began his career at West Ham) and he was sharp.
"One player who caught the eye was Courtney Senior who played down the right, he’s one to look out for."
Pochettino does usually make a number of changes for the competition and Paulo Gazzaniga is one man to have benefited from that in the past.
The Argentine looks set to keep his place in the team from Saturday's defeat at Leicester and he is expecting a physical game against The U's.
"Colchester have nothing to lose and they maybe have extra motivation to play against a team from the Premier League," he said.
"I think it’s going to be a good game because they’re in League Two – in those divisions it’s very physical and they put the pressure on a lot so we hope to get the win but also we will try to enjoy it.
"Personally I love to play every single game I get the opportunity to play and, of course, we always wants to win games.
"It doesn’t matter if it’s the Carabao Cup, Premier League, Champions League or FA Cup, we are always focused on this."
