A NEWHAM youngster dubbed as the next Ledley King is looking to hit the big time at White Hart Lane, writes MATT DINER. Troy Archibald-Henville, a former Rokeby School pupil, will have to wait for his chance though, as the Spurs youngster recently made a

A NEWHAM youngster dubbed as the next Ledley King is looking to hit the big time at White Hart Lane, writes MATT DINER.

Troy Archibald-Henville, a former Rokeby School pupil, will have to wait for his chance though, as the Spurs youngster recently made a loan move to League Two side Exeter City.

He impressed during his debut, which saw the Grecians beat Dagenham & Redbridge 2-1, and is taking one of the first steps in what he hopes will be a successful career.

"Long-term I would love to establish myself as a first team regular at Spurs," beamed the 20-year-old, who grew up in Hubbard Road, Stratford.

"For some people to compare me to Ledley King is hard to comprehend because I rate him so highly and he is one of the best defenders in the world.

"I learnt so much by just watching him play, he really knows how to defend.

"At the moment I am just looking to play as many games as I can at Exeter and hope it goes well.

"I am in the last year of my contract at Spurs and hopefully I can impress them enough so they will offer me a new one."

Archibald-Henville has obviously done enough for his new employers as they have extended his loan deal a until the end of the season.

"I think I have done well so far and I am really enjoying it here," he smiled.

"The fans are great and it is really nice when they sing songs about you, it gives me a big boost and I am happy to stay longer than a month.

"It's real football, playing for real points and I'm at the stage in my life where I need to be playing regularly."

Exeter City director and Tottenham legend Steve Perryman is very happy with what he has seen from the youngster so far.

"He did very well and it is such an important milestone to start your first league game," he said.

"He has a very good touch for a big lad.

"The fans responded well to him and I like the way he carries himself, he is not flash, but has an air of authority about him.

"I don't want to build him up and put too much pressure on him, but it is so far so good and I hope he can develop into a good player at Spurs in the future."

The youngster's spell in the south-west so far has been a success, in contrast to his loan spell at Norwich earlier in the season, where he failed to make a single appearance for the Canaries.

"Yeah it was very frustrating," he admitted. "I would not say it was a waste of time, I did get to train with the first team there, but unfortunately I did not get a look-in."

Archibald-Henville is keen to make an impact in first team football after a very successful rise through the ranks at Spurs which resulted in him skippering the reserve side on a number of occasions.

"The pace of the game is a lot quicker than reserve level and it is a lot more physical," he said.

"You're playing for actual points that matter and that is important.

"I know it was only captaining the reserves but I felt really proud to do it, it was a big moment for me."

From D.R Sanders

We met Troy at the Daggers game and Gilligham, what a very nice young man.

Its a pleasure to have him at the club and he is a credit to Spurs, We are so lucky to have Steve Perryman down here and he has been a fantastic figure head for the club.

I hope he enjoys his spell down in the glorious county of Devon and he spreads the word so we may get some more gifted players from Spurs down here. Up The Grecians and you have many new Devonian fans now we have Troy (albeit on a tempory spell!!)