Tottenham Hotspur Loan Watch: Andros Townsend Has A Blinder

Tottenham Hotspur recently loaned winger Andros Townsend to Leeds United, and in case you had any concerns about whether or not he'd find himself in the starting XI on a regular basis at Elland Road, he's been slotted right into the team. Townsend made his first start for Leeds in their Championship match against Burnley, and Townsend put on a fantastic performance.

I don't know this from first-hand knowledge, as I was unable to watch the game, but rather from Thomas Hill at The Offside Leeds blog. Thomas was nice enough to share his account of Townsend's performance, and we'll get more of these from him in the future. After the jump, see what Thomas thought of Townsend's performance in his first Leeds start.

Today's game was important, probably the biggest of the season due to our current form and fan pressure on Simon Grayson. Townsend was thrown straight in, originally on the right of midfield. He looked pacey and we failed to give the ball to him early on in the match. An injury to another player caused us to juggle the team around, and Townsend move to the left. From there the game was his, and I mean that. Him and our left back both have pace and were causing the defence of Burnley tonnes of problems. His pace and none stop running at the defence caused a Burnley player to get sent off, but it was in the second half he really shone.

The team saw his ability and tried to find him at every opportunity, his crosses were direct and very fast. His confidence for a young man was a brilliant sight to see. He pretty much did everything correct apart from one thing...he tried to score a goal from nowhere instead of playing a simple pass. But he redeemed himself with a shot, that was spilled and then we scored in the 94th minute to win.

Leeds fans can't get too carried away, he has after all only played one game. But what I saw like many others was a first class player who could play at a higher level. For now we're happy to have him, and I can only see his move as a success for both parties. Thanks for lending us Andros and hopefully he keeps it up.

Before the game, I told him what I thought of Townsend and he posted the thoughts over on his site, if you want to read them and blast me for having inane opinions about our budding young star.

Townsend recently signed a contract extension, and since he sang the lead in this video, I will be absolutely gutted if we ever sell him. The official Tottenham Hotspur website has some information on how our other on-loan players performed this week.