Anton Walkes has already experienced a significant more than most players do in their career, having played in front of huge crowds for MLS side Atalanta United.

The Spurs youngster joined American side on loan in 2017, making his debut against New York Red Bulls in front of 55,297. In October, the season ended in a play-off defeat to Columbus Crew, with 67,221 looking on. It's a far cry from the handful of spectators at Spurs reserve games.

"In the space of a couple of months I went from playing regularly in front of over 50,000 people to playing reserve games for Tottenham in front of 20 to 30 people," he told Sky Sports.

He's now back out on loan with Kenny Jackett's Portsmouth, where the crowds are back up into five figures.

"Now I'm playing at Fratton Park in front of 18,000 again."

Walkes found the transition from competitive football to youth football challenging, with different outcomes expected.

"In youth football, the victories don't matter as much as long as you have produced the better performance. In the real world, you would always take playing badly and getting the win."

Walkes has made eight starts for Pompey, scoring once on his debut against Doncaster. They're five points adrift of Plymouth in sixth, but the youngster is hopeful the race is still on.

"You cannot rule anything out because there are nine games left and you never know what could happen. Fortunately, we have a few of the experienced lads coming back from injury so we are going to get stronger. We are coming off a victory so hopefully we can get another this weekend and keep pushing."

The Verdict

From beating Ashley Cole's LA Galaxy 4-0 in September to losing 3-1 away at Southend in February, Walkes is certainly enjoying a varied season. It can only help him develop as a player though and, as he says, youth football is only good for so much. He need competition to help him morph into a complete footballer and he's certainly getting a rich and exciting mix of experiences.