LONDON -- Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks says he is perfectly suited to Mauricio Pochettino's style and that his breakthrough week has left him hungry for more.
Winks, 20, made his first start for Spurs in last Wednesday's 5-0 win against Gillingham in the EFL Cup, and he appeared as a late sub in the victory at Middlesbrough before making his Champions League debut from the bench in Tuesday's 1-0 win at CSKA Moscow.
The Hemel Hempstead-born player, who has been with Tottenham's academy since the age of eight, credited his teammates and manager Pochettino and said he hopes to follow in Harry Kane's footsteps.
"I'm playing with top, top quality players and every day I'm improving," Winks said. "I'm learning from a great manager as well. He teaches us a lot and his philosophy suits me to a tee. I'm enjoying my time here.
"I look up to a lot of the boys who have been there and done that. As a midfielder I look up to all of them, [Mousa] Dembele, [Eric] Dier ... [Victor] Wanyama has helped me out a lot, especially in preseason. But I just want to grow my own game and any bit of advice I can get from anyone, I'll take.
"I want more, a lot more, but I understand I'm young and I have to bide my time and be patient. I'll just continue to work hard and hopefully go forward from there.
"It's great for us, all us young, aspiring academy boys. We want to be where Harry is, where Ryan Mason was, Tom Carroll, players like that. We want to get there and to see them succeed and doing so well only gives us more motivation to get there."
Winks caught the eye on Tottenham's preseason trip to Melbourne, where he impressed in the defeats to Juventus and Atletico Madrid in the International Champions Cup.
"It was massive because I played against top opposition, obviously playing with top players as well and it was an experience which I learned a lot from," he said. "Playing in men's football, in senior football, against top opposition, I could take that experience into this season and this game."
Looking back on his first competitive start for Spurs against League One side Gillingham, Winks said: "I'm delighted mainly with the result, but for my personal performance I'm over the moon with myself. For my first start I was just happy that we got the win and I had a good game myself.
"I felt like I was enjoying it and that's the main thing. I felt like I was in control of myself and the game. It helped that we won 5-0 as well and the goals were scored by some top players.
"My game is to take risks, be sturdy and solid when I need to be, but ultimately we want to score and in order to do so you have to take risks. In my position that's what I'm able to do and hopefully I can affect the game in that way.
"The manager just said to all the boys to relax, go out there and play our game and stick to our game plan, not to worry about anything and just enjoy it.
"It's nice to have a big presence on the pitch, like Erik Lamela, [Kevin] Wimmer, [Vincent] Janssen, [Christian] Eriksen, players who have actually been there and done it. For me having those players around me and talking me through it was key for me."
With Dier and Dembele nearing fitness, Winks' chances could be more limited in the coming weeks but he is likely to be given another opportunity to impress in the EFL fourth round at Liverpool on Oct. 25.
"The team's not selected yet. If I have a poor session or I train badly then the manager won't select me, which I understand. So I have to just put that to the back of my mind, train hard every day and not worry about the future, just the next game, next training session and keeping on going that way," Winks added.