Tottenham have not given Portsmouth permission to play Dane Scarlett in their FA Cup second-round tie against MK Dons on Saturday afternoon. Featuring regularly for Danny Cowley's team following his loan switch to Fratton Park in the summer, the 18-year-old was missing from the Pompey matchday squad in their FA Cup first-round tie away at non-league Hereford at the beginning of November.
Looking a certainty to feature in the match at Edgar Street, Scarlett wasn't the only Portsmouth loanee to miss out as Owen Dale also didn't take his place in the squad. Scarlett's absence was down to Tottenham denying the League One club permission to play him in the FA Cup encounter, with Blackpool doing the same regarding Dale.
Speaking after their 3-1 win over Hereford, Pompey boss Cowley opened up on why Scarlett didn't play but he did indicate that he would be available for the second round.
READ MORE: Tottenham's next five fixtures compared to Arsenal, Man City, Newcastle, Man Utd and Liverpool
"Tottenham have said to us that they will allow him to play in the next round if we got through," he told BBC Radio Solent. "That’s the communication we’ve had with them and we’re hopeful that we might have him for the next one. It’s absolutely the prerogative of the parent club to make that decision so we totally respect that."
However, that is now not the case as Tottenham have once again decided against Scarlett playing in the FA Cup for his loan club. The decision means the striker would be eligible to play for Spurs or another club in the third round if they wanted to recall him from Portsmouth in the new year.
Scarlett has scored five goals in his Portsmouth loan spell, with his latest strike coming on Tuesday evening in their 2-0 win over Ipswich Town in the Papa Johns Trophy. Expertly finding the bottom corner with a low drive, the youngster came in for plenty of praise from Cowley after the victory.
"I am telling you now, in 15 years of football, I don’t remember seeing a number nine defend as well as Dane did with that effort," the manager told The News. "It’s not just energy, not just intensity, his intelligence was so good, I am so pleased with him.
"I told him in the lead to the game, just keep being an honest kid, put the team first and football always repays those qualities. It’s an honest game is football and I was pleased with him against Ipswich because he so deserved to score that goal - and what a really good finish as well.
"He’s just a good kid, he has a steel about him which is beyond his years, mentally he’s incredibly tough and that’s why we know he is going to be the very, very best he can be. Whatever that will be, I have no doubt he will make the most of his natural talent. It was an all-round excellent display, well beyond the years of an 18-year-old."
READ NEXT:
Djed Spence January transfer decision and Fabio Paratici's chance to revolutionise Tottenham XI
Tottenham ace Son Heung-min details injury nightmare and his message to physios before World Cup
Darwin Nunez discovers Kim Min-jae truth as Tottenham transfer target makes World Cup statement
What Son Heung-min did on South Korea World Cup return as Rodrigo Bentancur excels for Uruguay
Full list of Tottenham players going to Qatar 2022 World Cup as Eric Dier, Rodrigo Bentancur in
