SERGE AND RESCUE

Serge Aurier is enjoying his time in a Spurs shirt and is relishing his time on the pitch, yet the defender is determined to keep building, developing and giving his all for the fans.

- Liam Carson

In what will be remembered as one of the most irregular of footballing seasons in the history of the game, one thing that has remained consistent for us has been the fixture of Serge Aurier in our starting XI.

In a campaign brought to a halt by the outbreak of COVID-19 – an unprecedented global pandemic of modern times – and postponed for over three months, before action resumed behind closed doors in June, Serge has remained fit and ready for whenever he is called upon. After two years of battling for the starting right-back spot, as well as a season blighted by injury in 2018/19, the 27-year-old has been in fine fettle this term and has made the right flank his own.

Prior to facing Everton at the start of the week, the Ivorian had missed just one league game since returning from injury against Crystal Palace in September, while he had played in each of our last 24 league games – starting 22 of those. Never before has he played in so many fixtures for us in a single season having significantly surpassed the 24 and 17 appearances he made in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns already. Only once in his career to date has he enjoyed so much game time – that coming six years ago during his days with French outfit Toulouse.

Speaking to us back in November, the defender had told us how important a regular run in the team would be to get the best out of him. It was a break that he said he had been patiently waiting for. Now, he believes we are seeing some of the best of him in a Spurs shirt, yet he also feels that he has even more to give, both on the pitch and to the team.