It was academy graduates who shone for Tottenham Hotspur in midweek Europa League action.

Tottenham Hotspur debutant Damola Ajayi was still in a state of disbelief after making his first team debut and scoring against IF Elfsborg in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Ange Postecoglou has had to turn to youth amid Spurs' well documented injury woes but that worked in his favour for midweek action. Ajayi came on as a late substitute in the 3-0 win and scored his first senior goal just minutes after entering the field of play.

In the 84th minute, the 19-year-old cut inside from the right before playing a one-two with Dane Scarlett and firing into the nearside of the goal. Ajayi became the first Spurs player to score on his debut since Arnaut Danjuma in January 2023, who bagged an FA Cup win over Preston North End.

Damola Ajayi scores on Tottenham debut

The teenager is the first academy graduate to manage that since January 2021, when Alfie Devine scored in a 5-0 FA Cup win over Marine. Fellow graduate Mikey Moore also scored his first Spurs goal on Thursday night but it was a wholesome clip of Ajayi celebrating after the match which touched supporters on social media.

The player, who has now been awarded a legacy number by the club, was filmed looking at photos from the match and giggling. He said: "Oh my days! Look at my face! This was top, man. When I woke up this morning, I weren't thinking I was going to do this. Pedro Porro and Kulusevski, what else could you want? This is top. This is top."

When asked about the academy players shining after the game, Postecoglou said: "I just said it was Made in Tottenham tonight. It’s brilliant for the club and I’m sure there are academy coaches and players who won’t sleep tonight because they are pretty excited. We have got a big week coming up and we have got to try to manage the load of our players and try to protect them.

"We kind of knew we would have to rely on some young players tonight, and all the way through this campaign to be honest. I thought they stood up really well. The whole group played well but we were going to need some young boys to make an impact and not just the three goalscorers. We had a couple of 18-year-olds in there as well who continue to drive us on. So it is a great night for the club and something the whole academy should be proud of."

The 3-0 win doesn't erase injury fears that continue to surround the club ahead of important fixtures. There's a Premier League meeting against Brentford this weekend before the huge second leg of the Carabao Cup semi final against Liverpool.

Ange Postecoglou on ongoing injury crisis

Postecoglou was asked if he could continue to use academy players to navigate the injury situation. He said: "I don’t even know if we’ve got any more mate. I don’t know of many teams that are finishing European games like us with five or six teenagers on the field. It's a challenge for us, but credit to the lads.

"They’re just cracking on with it and the young boys are taking their opportunities. They'll all bear fruit in time. This exposure we've given them, the growth they've made, I'm sure they’ll all be encouraged and I think the rest of the academy will too, the young players in there, because they've seen the players they're sharing a dressing room with scoring for Tottenham on a European night. I'm sure it'll give a boost to the whole place."

In other news, Totttenham Hotspur and Chelsea were landed a transfer blow by QPR this week with the Championship agreeing a new contract with an academy star.