Report: Conte calls up ‘really tough’ 18-year-old to Spurs training, can play in midfield and centre-back

Fri 4 February 2022 18:15, UK

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has been putting his players through their paces ahead of their FA Cup fourth-round meeting with Brighton.

Spurs will be eager to progress in the competition after crashing out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of Chelsea.

And Conte has received some good news ahead of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium cup clash.

Cristian Romero, Son Heung-min and new arrivals Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski are all available.

Romero is back from a serious hamstring injury sustained on international duty for Argentina against Brazil in November.

Son, meanwhile, has missed Tottenham’s last four matches going back to 9 January with a muscular problem.

Kulusevski, who signed on loan from Juve on Monday, linked up with Tottenham directly after signing.

Meanwhile, Bentancur arrived at Hotspur Way on Thursday after signing from Juventus.

He scored his first goal for Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier against Venezuela on Tuesday.

According to , Conte also called up a number of Tottenham academy players to first-team training.

One of those was Matthew Craig, a ‘‘ 18-year-old midfielder who .

Matthew and Michael Craig – Tottenham history-makers

As per the Tottenham website, Craig was a county cup winner and 1,500m district champion at school.

Having previously played for Watford, he is a Scotland youth international.

Craig has previously captained his country at Under-16 level and played for them in the Victory Shield.

He earned promotion to the Under-23s last summer and has made 13 Premier League 2 appearances this term.

Last year, a training-ground photo emerged showing Craig tussling with – and seemingly getting the better of – Tanguy Ndombele.

Tottenham youngster Matthew Craig battles it out with Tanguy Ndombele.
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Craig and twin brother Michael – also a Spurs academy midfielder – made history against Pacos de Ferreira last year.

They became the first identical twins to appear in a Tottenham matchday squad.