Tottenham Said ‘Listen, 30 Minutes’ – Boss Admits Spurs Guiding Loanee’s Game Time
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Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur are guiding the Stags to manage George Abbott’s minutes, stressing that the League One club want to see the midfielder stay fit.
The Islington-born talent joined the north London club’s youth academy early doors, when he was only seven years old.
Abbott is highly rated at Spurs and made his only appearance for the first team three years ago against Leeds United in a Premier League game.
He is currently on his third loan spell away from Tottenham, as he made a fresh loan move to League One club Mansfield Town on deadline day of the most recent transfer window.
Fellow Spurs loanee Oliver Irow is at Mansfield and Abbott admitted that his conversation with the winger influenced that move.
The Spurs talent was on loan at Wycombe Wanderers in the first half of the season, which was cut short due to injury issues, and he is still dealing with those.
Clough revealed that Spurs asked them to play Abbott for around 30 minutes against Peterborough United last week, which they did, and he still felt uneasiness in his thigh.
He made it clear that the Premier League side are guiding his injury, and stressed that his minutes will be managed carefully as Mansfield too want the Tottenham starlet to stay fit for the rest of the campaign.
“He just felt his thigh after the 30 minutes – he is obviously coming back from an injury-hit first half of the season”, Clough told Mansfield’s media (0:38) when he was asked about Abbott’s availability.
“He had a thigh injury early on and had a groin injury.
“So, we are very much being guided by Spurs in terms of how much he can do, and they said, ‘listen, 30 minutes is all he can do’ [against Peterborough].
“We did that on Tuesday, and he still felt it a little bit.
“So, we will make sure that he is right before we involve him now.
“He was right, but unfortunately, he just felt it, I think, coming back into a little bit of intensive training after his injuries.
“But it is important that he is right for the last two three months of the season.”
Abbott scored in his only appearance for Mansfield Town against Posh last week in a 2-1 loss, after he came off the bench.
Last season, he was on loan at Notts County, and former EFL winger Adrian Clarke dubbed him a player to keep an eye on.
Mansfield Town play Arsenal in the next round of the FA Cup, and Abbott will be eager to get a taste of Tottenham’s bitter rivals in his loan spell.
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