Danny Rose interview: Competition with Ben Davies drove him to improve

If you could travel back in time to last August and tell yourself that Danny Rose would be one of Tottenham Hotspurs' best players this season, well, chances are you'd be pretty alarmed at meeting yourself. After that shock wears off though, you'd say "Wait a minute, Danny Rose? Quit pulling my leg, me."

It's true, though. Harry Kane has rightfully taken most of the headlines, but Rose has grown into a quality left back for Spurs. He sat down for an interview with the team's website, and he gave his thoughts on his breakthrough season.

On his form this season:

I feel I'm doing well and that's down to the gaffer and the Chairman. The Club gave me a new contract at the start of the season and in that respect, I owe them a lot and I thank them for that. I also thank my team-mates for helping me improve every day in training. I'll be forever grateful to everyone I've just mentioned. To be honest, last season was difficult at times. This season, I've just listened to the gaffer and if he says I've done wrong, I've done wrong but if he says I've done well, that's great. I've hit some good form and the competition with Ben Davies has helped as well, it's made me work even harder.

On the competition between he and Ben Davies:

The competition drives you on. It makes you want to improve every aspect of your game. When Ben has started, he's been brilliant. It's been great to watch him play when I've not played. It's been nice to learn from him as well. He's younger than me but he's had over 100 games at the top level and he's a fully-fledged international with Wales, so he has that experience. We've gone toe-to-toe this season.

On getting to play with fellow Academy graduates Harry Kane, Nabil Bentaleb, Ryan Mason, and Andros Townsend:

It's a great feeling. I've known them all for some time now - Andros, Ryan, Harry, Nabil and Kyle Walker as well. We have a connection and when someone is in trouble, we'll be there to help. That's full credit to the gaffer, John McDermott (Academy Manager) and everyone who has helped us all progress and to be able to play every week now for Spurs.

Head over to Spurs' website to read the interview in its entirety.