Match preview: Tottenham v Arsenal U-23s

Steve Bould’s side will look to register their first win since September when we travel to The Lamex Stadium on Friday night.

THE STORY SO FAR

We put the disappointment of losing to Chelsea behind us last week when we came from a goal down to take a well-earned point against Manchester City.

Nathan Tormey scored his third goal of the season in the 1-1 draw at City Football Academy after Ian Poveda-Ocampo had fired the hosts into the lead.

Ben Cottrell had a couple of great chances late on but was denied by Gavin Bazunu in City’s goal as we settled for a point.

We made an unbeaten start to the season, which included wins against Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and Brighton, alongside draws with Liverpool and last season’s champions, Everton.

We’ve also shown great character when falling behind in matches as we’ve won six points from losing positions so far.

We currently sit third in the PL2 table on 14 points, six points behind leaders Derby County.

THE OPPOSITION

Tottenham have made an inconsistent start to the season, but after victory last week, they’ll be desperate to record back-to-back wins.

Our north London rivals opened their campaign with consecutive wins but had to wait a further seven games until they claimed three points again. Their winless run came to end against Wolves when Armando Shashoua's brace secured an impressive 2-1 away victory.

Tottenham proved good opponents for us last season as we recorded home and away victories. Tyreece John-Jules and Joe Willock were on the scoresheet in a 2-1 home victory and the midfielder then bagged a brace in our 4-0 away success.

Spurs currently sit eighth in the PL2 table, but three points on Friday could see them rise above us in the table.

ONE TO WATCH

Zak Swanson has received praise in recent weeks for his strong performances at right back.

The versatile defender can play across the backline or in central midfield and has adapted well to under-23 football after making the step up from our under-18s.

Steve Bould was impressed by his performance last week and said post-match: “I have to give Zak Swanson a mention tonight too because I think he’s a bit of forgotten man, and I actually thought he was our star player. Zak’s one of those players that plays at 7/10 every week and you know what you’re going to get from him and step by step he’s becoming a more polished player week in week out.”