How Matt Doherty can exorcise his Aston Villa demons and join a special list of Spurs players

Football is littered with second chance stories - those players who seemed destined for the exit door when suddenly everything changed.

Whatever social media tries to tell us, there aren't bad footballers playing in the Premier League. You don't reach that level and overcome all of the challenges and scrutiny of coaches galore along the way by being a bad footballer. There are other mental aspects that do play a part, whether it's a lack of desire to improve, how they treat their bodies outside of the training centre, the suitability to a new league or country and the mental strength required to play at the very top.

Often though, when things don't go the right way for a player it can be simply down to circumstance, whether that's an injury, a change in tactics or a new manager who simply does not see them in their plans. Sometimes the latter two instances can work in a positive way, if mixed with the right attitude from the player.

Tottenham predicted team vs Aston Villa: Antonio Conte makes surprise decision as players return

Tottenham Hotspur have plenty of stories of those who have turned their careers at the club around - Moussa Sissoko transformed from a scapegoat set to depart to a key player for a couple of seasons - and a few players to fix their Spurs time have been among the biggest names.

Take three of Tottenham's brightest attacking lights in recent years - Gareth Bale, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane. All three needed changes to their situations and in some cases themselves to become the stars they have.

Bale was on the verge of being loaned out of the club, with that infamous long stretch without a win to his name. In the end it was an injury to left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto which got him back in the team