TOTTENHAM derby hero Danny Rose admits he has never hit a better shot in his career – and believes that his 30-yard volley is a candidate for the goal of the season. Rose made his Premier League debut in last night s historic 2-1 win over Ar

By Ben Pearce

TOTTENHAM derby hero Danny Rose admits he has never hit a better shot in his career - and believes that his 30-yard volley is a candidate for the goal of the season.

Rose made his Premier League debut in last night's historic 2-1 win over Arsenal - the first time Spurs have beaten their north London rivals in the league in over a decade.

And the 19-year-old, who joined the Lilywhites from Leeds for �1million in July 2007, instantly shot to stardom as his 10th-minute wonderstrike flew past Manuel Almunia to give the home side the lead.

"I don't think I've ever hit a better shot than that. I was going to bring it down at first, then at the last minute I thought 'I'm just going to hit it', and I caught it sweet and it's gone in," said Rose.

"I think when I was a bit younger when I was at Leeds, about 12 years old, I hit a nice 20-yarder, but I think this one definitely tops it. I don't think I've seen a better goal this season, I'd like to think it would be up there.

"I just didn't know what to do. I ran over to look for my dad and then I turned back round and Arsenal took the kick-off so I just forgot about it straight away and I ended up defending back in my own corner.

"I think it's the first time we've beaten Arsenal for 10 years so it was nice to get on the scoresheet, and we've shown we can beat anyone, especially at home."

Rose was not told that he would be starting the derby until an hour and a half before kick-off, but he admits he suspected that he might be in the line-up.

"We did some team shape on Tuesday and David Bentley was resting, so I thought I was just taking his place. Then the gaffer was doing pressing, and he was telling me where he wanted me to be when we were pressing the ball, so I kind of had an inkling that I was going to play then, but I didn't take anything for granted until they named the team before the game, about half past six," he said.

"I was very nervous. I was nervous on Tuesday, even though I didn't know I was definitely starting, but the lads have helped me out massively before the kick-off. Les [Ferdinand] and Tim Sherwood came over and told me not to worry about anything, and just to do what I've been doing in training."

And Rose had also paid tribute to Aaron Lennon, who had left Leeds for White Hart Lane two years before Rose's own move from Yorkshire to N17.

"Since I've moved down here Azza's been like an older brother to me, he's looked after me massively and even before the game he told me just to relax," said Rose.

"He told me that he's played against [Gael] Clichy a lot of times, and he told me to take him on his inside - that he doesn't like it, he struggles defending there. The sooner we get him back as well we'll be even stronger.

"We needed the three points to keep the pressure on Man City. They've got a hard game at the weekend and so have we. I know a lot of people wrote us off with our hard games that are coming up, saying that we wouldn't get any points, so it was important to get the three points, and we put in a good performance as well.