Tottenham Hotspur winger Bryan Gil is now expected to start in their FA Cup game on the weekend against Portsmouth, according to Alasdair Gold.

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Spurs put their fight for a spot in the top four to one side this weekend as their FA Cup journey begins with a clash at home against the League One side, Pompey.

Prior to Wednesday night's victory against Crystal Palace, this game probably would have come as a welcome break to league actin for Antonio Conte's men.

However, their second-half efforts against the Eagles saw them clinch three big points in which Bryan Gil played a huge role after getting the nod from the Italian to start his second consecutive game in the league.

And on the back of his impressive display, Gold is now expecting Conte to give Gil another run out in the squad in hope to keep his impressive form going ahead of the north London derby:

(19:20) "He could have played the full 90 last night [Wednesday]. But I think it's a good thing that he was actually taken off because it almost showed that Conte was kind of trying to protect him. I'm presuming he'll play against Portsmouth as well," said Gold on the Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham podcast.

Stepping up

Tottenham have had to deal with their fair share of injuries this season with Son Heung-min suffering a blow to the face before the World Cup break which saw him sidelined for a number of weeks.

And for the second separate time this season, Conte finds himself without either Dejan Kulusevski or Richarlison to pick from with the two forwards also missing through respective injuries.

However, fears over filling the goals and assists left behind by the duo may have been put to rest on Wednesday night following the impressive display from Gil which saw Conte rave about the Spaniard after the game:

"It was really important, you know about Bryan Gil we are talking about a player who was born to play football. He understands football quickly. He's so clever, so intelligent to understand the situation," the Italian said.

The 21-year-old - hailed as "special" - picked up his first assist in the Premier League on Wednesday as he provided a pinpoint perfect pass for Harry Kane's second goal of the game.

What was perhaps just as impressive as Gil's assist was his defensive display with the winger also providing Spurs with two tackles, a clearance and an interception (via SofaScore).

There have been some suggestions that Gil could be set for a January move away on loan for the remainder of the season. It will be interesting to see how this may have changed on the back of his display in south London.