Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce was pleased with Sean Longstaff's attitude when benching him for defeat at Norwich City.
Bruce was certainly impressed by Longstaff's response when he came on at Norwich and the midfielder is line to start against Spurs on Sunday.
"I think, with all of that, is that usually sends you up here [raises hand towards ceiling]," he told reporters after being asked about how quickly everything has come for Longstaff after being linked with a 50m move to Manchester United.
"I think there were times in training and over the last three or four weeks too that his knee's been sore and he's not as fluid as you would like to be.
"He's had a serious knee injury and there's times where he was just a little bit short and that has been in games in pre-season and watching him in training.
"There's times when you just have to protect him but, certainly, the one thing I enjoyed about him was he didn't enjoy being on the bench. He certainly reacted in the right way.
"Of course, in the back of my mind, he's had a serious knee injury so in that way, I've got to protect him a little bit - that was all."
