Jake Livermore is hoping that an extended run in Tottenham’s European team can boost his claims to a role in the Premier League.

Jake Livermore is hoping that an extended run in the Europa League will help him to catch Harry Redknapp’s eye, and provide him with a platform to push for a regular role in the Premier League.

Livermore has featured heavily for Tottenham in their pre-season campaign and was involved in their last warm-up game on Saturday, coming off the bench for the final 10 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao at White Hart Lane.

With Redknapp already admitting that Livermore will be a regular in Europe, the youngster is set to face plenty more continental opposition – and he admits that he has never been so excited about the start of the season.

“It was nice to be involved on Saturday, it was great to be back on home turf,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of games, and I’ve had a lot of games myself in this pre-season, and it’s nice to be playing at White Hart Lane again.

“The manager’s been good with me so far, and this is probably the most excited I’ve ever been at this stage.

“I’ve not had too many good pre-seasons. I broke my leg in one, and then I was suspended for the season after. Then the season after that I wasn’t very well and then I went out on loan – so I’m looking forward to this season.

“Hopefully I can get some games and cement a place. That’s all I want. Obviously it’s hard at Tottenham because we’ve got internationals throughout our squad. We could put out two teams, like in the Europa League, and still look to win most games.

“I’m hoping that Europe can be a little shop window for me, so to speak, where I can get some games and show the manager what I can do. Hopefully from there I can start getting some Premier League starts and possibly cement a place.”

While next week’s trip to Hearts is a far cry from the glamorous Champions League nights that Tottenham enjoyed against Inter Milan, AC Milan and Real Madrid last season, Livermore insists that the Lilywhites won’t underestimate their Scottish opponents.

And the young midfielder is fully aware that the calibre of the opposition will increase if Spurs’ second string can fight their way through to the knockout stages of the competition.

“Before we drew Hearts we weren’t sure where we were going to be playing, it could have been anywhere - but it’s obviously not too far,” he said. “They look like a good side, it will be a tough game.

“When I was on loan at Leeds last season I saw all the big games that we were playing in Europe, against the likes of Inter and the Real Madrid, and I came back and watched as many of the games as I could.

“Obviously you want to test yourself against those kind of players. As a kid you either want to play for or against those sort of teams.”

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