The unlikely Spurs man who has become vital part of Pochettino's plans this campaign

Only two players have played in all eight of Spurs' games this season

Only two players have played in every Tottenham game in the Premier League so far this season.

One comes as no surprise - Spurs talisman Harry Kane has played all but two minutes of the campaign so far.

The other would have come as a surprise before a ball was kicked in anger - Lucas Moura.

The 26-year-old played a bit-part role in the second half of last season after joining the club for a reported £38million from Paris Saint-Germain in January.

But with a full pre-season under his belt, the Brazilian has become a key, and more importantly trusted, member of Mauricio Pochettino's first team squad.

So how did Moura get to this position?

Heung-min Son's involvement in the Asian Games will have helped his cause.

The South Korean was available for the first game of the season at Newcastle, but going away for a month after that, Pochettino will have made plans to deal without him - plans that clearly involved Moura.

Erik Lamela being eased back into action from a long injury layoff will also have been a positive for Moura, as will injuries to Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli more recently.

All of these factors would have worked in the Brazilian's favour, but Moura started the season on fire, scoring three in the first three games, including a memorable brace against Manchester United.

He earned his position in Pochettino's team, and has repaid his manager's faith in kind.

He has a 7.24 average rating from WhoScored.com, having 1.9 shots per game and making 1 key pass per game too.

With Son and Lamela returning to full fitness, pressure will be on Moura - who has earned a call-up to the Brazil squad - to keep his place in the starting line-up. But unlike last season, his performances now mean that it will not be a given that he is replaced.