With Cristian Romero injured, Antonio Conte needed to pick one of his other defenders, to take up the role of right centre-back in Tottenham's 1-0 victory over Wolves. As many expected, Davinson Sanchez was given the nod.
football.london understands that Spurs' medical department told the Argentine that the abductor injury would keep him out of action for three to four weeks. Romero wanted to be available for Saturday's game, but the Italian explained that he wasn't going to take the risk.
Sanchez replaced the 24-year-old when he was absent in the final three games of the season, and Tottenham didn't concede a single goal in that time. The Colombian has made his fair share of mistakes in the Spurs' back line, seen last season when the defender slipped and made some mistakes leading to goals.
READ MORE: Cristian Romero injury update as Tottenham defender seeks to push forward return
There were a lot of worries built up for some Tottenham fans, knowing Spurs would be without Romero for at least a few weeks, indicating the impact the Argentina international has on Conte's side. However, for Sanchez, it was a key opportunity to impress his boss.
Although not as much as some of the other Spurs players, the 26-year-old's Tottenham future has been questioned, and there have been some links with a move abroad this summer. Therefore, the few games Sanchez will now be filling in for Romero are a key time for the Colombian to show why he deserves to stay, and Saturday was a good start.
The defender played the full 90 minutes against Bruno Lage's side. Throughout the game, Sanchez made three tackles and five clearances and had 89.5 per cent passing accuracy, arguably being Tottenham's best-performing defender on the day.
There were still a couple of sloppy moments for the 26-year-old, but he also made key blocks and clearances, especially in the second half. Sanchez is clearly a valued squad member, earning praise from Conte and Ben Davies.
In June, the Welsh international highlighted the need for the whole squad to be available and step in when needed. "I include everyone in that – Davinson Sanchez, and Joe Rodon are great professionals, they work hard every single day, and they came in and played some minutes too," Davies said in June.
Sanchez's work ethic was echoed by Conte in May, where he labelled the defender a "reliable" player. "I want to say that Patron Sanchez, he played his last game in the starting XI maybe two-and-a-half months ago and he worked a lot, he worked very well and to see him tonight have this performance makes me and my staff very happy," the Italian explained.
The importance of being available is even more important this season. Tottenham has a busy fixture schedule this season and will need to also deal with the break of the World Cup at the end of the year.
Conte wants his side to get out of the mindset of there being a set XI every week, which was seen quite a lot during the 2021/22 campaign. The Italian has already shown rotations will be made, with Ivan Perisic coming into the starting line-up on Saturday.
Sanchez is likely to keep his spot in the starting XI for the next few weeks, whilst Romero is unavailable. This is a key chance for the Colombian to build up his match fitness and impress Conte, with plenty more chances for game time once the fixture schedule gets even busier.
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