Football
Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham Correspondent 7y

Ben Davies is happy to bide his time at Tottenham Hotspur

LONDON -- Ben Davies knows the importance of making the most of his opportunities at Tottenham Hotspur but says he is happy with his role at the club.

Davies, 23, is Tottenham's backup left-back and, like right-back Kieran Trippier, he has found chances harder to come by this season than last due to the superb form of the first choice full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker.

Davies has started three games in both the Premier League and Champions League this season but is well behind Rose, though he made the most of a rare start with his first goal for Spurs in Sunday's 2-0 FA Cup win against Aston Villa.

The Wales international could be first choice at the majority of Premier League clubs but he is happy at Tottenham, and says the competition with Rose is improving them both.

"When the opportunities come, you have to try to make a mark," Davies said after the Villa match -- his 68th appearance for Spurs. "The way the boys have been playing, when they get the shirt, it's hard to take it off them because the quality of the performances they put in.

"I'm happy as it is at the moment -- I'm still young and I'm learning a lot here. The competition has definitely improved me as a player and when I get the opportunities, I have to try to do my best and make a mark and show what I can do.

"When you're competing with someone, you have that drive to do as well as possible. I like to think it works both ways, that we [Rose and Davies] have both improved in the time that we have been competing with each other to be as best as we can. You can see with Danny, some of his performances have been superb this year.

"There's always going to be competition for places here and the standards have been set by all four of us [full-backs], really. We've been playing well when we've had the chance. So when you get in the team, when you get that opportunity, you have to try to make a mark."

Davies' fine 71st-minute header broke Villa's resistance and Son Heung-Min sealed Tottenham's progression to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a composed second goal.

"It came at an important time in the game. We were getting a bit frustrated not having scored and I came up with the goal," Davies said.

"It's not a priority for me, I'll be honest, but it's always nice when you can contribute like that. It was a nice feeling to get off the mark. It was an important time in the game for us to kick on and finish it, close it out.

"Villa were playing with so many men behind the ball. It was a bit of free roaming really and sometimes you have to try to get in the box. I was, and I was in the right place at the right time."

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino continued with three centre-backs for the third match running against Villa, with Davies starting the game as a wing-back before playing on the left of a back four for the final 20 minutes.

Davies says he feels comfortable in both roles and believes he could also play as one of the three centre-backs, as he did with success for Wales at Euro 2016.

"If you get asked to do any role that's what you have to do," he said. "Three at the back could be here to stay but it's up to the manager at the end of the day. If we get told to play wherever, that's what we'll do.

"I like to think I could play [as one of three centre-backs] as well. It's nice options for the manager to have, to have quite a few of us who can play in different positions. We haven't discussed anything like that at all, though."

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