Tottenham vs Aston Villa: Midfielder Ryan Mason ready for full return from injury

Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder Ryan Mason is pushing for a full return from a knee injury following a cameo appearance against Bournemouth. The 24-year-old played the last 23 minutes of the 5-1 win at the Vitality Stadium, which saw Harry Kane's hat-trick extend the club's unbeaten Premier League run to nine games.

Before the substitute appearance, which saw Mason replace Moussa Dembele, he had missed Spurs' last eight games with a knee injury, which was suffered in the process of scoring the winner in the 1-0 win at Sunderland at the start of September. Mason was also absent for England's European Championship double-header against Estonia and Lithuania.

Mauricio Pochettino's side face Aston Villa, Anderlecht and Arsenal in the coming days in a potentially pivotal week in their season, and Tottenham have been boosted by the news that Mason is now pushing for his first start for eight weeks. The ex-Swindon Town loanee says he is fully fit and ready to stake his claim for a place in an ever-competitive starting 11.

"The most important thing is that the team has been doing well and this was the perfect game to come back into," Mason told Tottenham's official website. "I'm happy to be back. We've got competition for places all over the pitch and that's why we're doing so well.

"Everyone is on their toes, improving each other, the players who aren't playing are training hard and driving on the players who are playing. It's good to be part of that and we've got a few extra days now until the next game, so hopefully I'll train well, get more fitness under my belt and push for a start."

On the topic of Tottenham's run in the Premier League, which has seen them unbeaten since the opening day loss to Manchester United, he said: "It's not easy to go nine games unbeaten at any level, let alone in the Premier League – the toughest league in the world. It's a good achievement for the team but we're not thinking about that, we're just concentrating on winning games and progressing."