Troy Parrott and Tottenham may have had a disappointing evening in Colchester, but Dan McDonnell believes that Parrott is on the 'cycle' to become a first-team player at the club.

The young Irishman started for the first time at senior level, but was ultimately frustrated by a compact Colchester defence in an EFL Cup match that Spurs ended up losing on penalties.

Dan was in attendance last night and - despite the negativity around Spurs at the moment - believes Parrott can consider the experience a positive one.

"Colchester were very disciplined, defended very well and in an organised well. For a debut, there wasn't a huge amoung of space to work with.

"He had few nice touches, he linked play well at times and dropped deep to get the ball. But it didn't happen for him in terms of attacking opportunities as he would have liked."

Mauricio Pochettino appears to believe that Parrott will form a key part of any Tottenham first-team squad.

"I asked Pochettino about him afterwards, and he is adamant that he is going to be an important player for Spurs. There was no doubt or equivocation when it came to that," McDonnell said.

"It will maybe take one or two years of playing in these types of fixtures - he is on that circuit. Sometimes players of his age get sent to places like Colchester.

"Parrott is rated above that, in that he is considered on the cycle to become a first-team player. He is not going to come in and just tear things up.

"In terms of his own career, it is a pretty decent step up."

It appears that any prospect of Parrott becoming a first-team regular for Spurs is reliant on Pochettino's future at the club.

"Pochettino is a great manager for [Parrott], and has a great reputation for developing players.

"You just hope that that regime is going to stick together but there seems to be seeds of doubt there about the whole thing right now."

Subscribe to Off The Ball's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.