Harry Winks has praised his Tottenham Hotspur midfield teammates for helping him experience a smooth transition into the first team.

The academy graduate, who enjoyed a fruitful debut Premier League campaign last term before suffering a long-term ankle injury, has gone from strength to strength this season.

Winks made his first start of the season against Barnsley in the EFL Cup and within a month had made his England debut and played 90 minutes at Real Madrid.

"We like to play quite an energetic, expansive game," Winks is quoted by the Evening Standard as saying.

"Everyone likes to rotate, have freedom and play creatively and we get to express ourselves on the pitch, so it's brilliant as a midfielder to have almost no restrictions to go out there and play.

"When you have people like Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele or Victor Wanyama alongside you in there in the middle, you know you've always got top players around you who can help you out."

Winks has made 46 first-team appearances for Spurs so far.