Japhet Tanganga admits the best bit of his week to remember at Tottenham was seeing the smile on his father's face.
The 20-year-old has burst on to the scene at Spurs over the past few days as he followed an impressive Premier League debut against Liverpool on Saturday with a man-of-the-match performance in Tuesday's 2-1 FA Cup replay win over Middlesbrough.
Prior to last weekend, his only senior appearance for the club where he has come through the ranks was in the Carabao Cup at Colchester in September.
His rise to prominence under Jose Mourinho has come as a bit of a surprise and seems a long way from playing in the youth ranks, where his parents were cheering him on from the touchline.
"My mum's not here right now, she's on holiday, but my dad was there and he was really pleased," he said.
"I was really happy to just see the joy on his face.
"He's worked so hard for years, you know, taking me to football, sacrificing time off work to take me to games, standing there in the cold watching me when it's raining.
Boro put up a decent fight at Spurs, but they were always facing an uphill battle after conceding two goals in the opening 15 minutes.
Midfielder Adam Clayton said on BBC Tees: "We dug in. A lot of teams would have been done three, four, five, they have done that to teams in the Premier League.
"We could have nicked it at the end, taken it to extra-time, but it wasn't to be.
"Friday (against Fulham) is the most important thing and we are straight on recovery and getting ready for that."
