James Maddison has sent a message to Tottenham Hotspur fans after marking his return to the starting eleven with an outstanding performance and a world-class goal.

Over the last few weeks, plenty of pundits had suggested that Maddison could be the missing link to Roberto De Zerbi’s side, and the attacking midfielder proved them right in his first start in 18 months.

With 14 minutes on the clock, the attacking midfielder showed what separates him from the rest of the club’s attackers by producing a moment of fine quality.

The 29-year-old curled a cut-back from Mohammed Kudus from outside the box into the top right-corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance, thus putting Tottenham ahead for the first time this Premier League season.

James Maddison posted some outstanding individual numbers in the 69 minutes he was out there, proving to be the Lilywhites’ main creative force.

James Maddison opens up on ‘special feeling’ after scoring Tottenham’s opener

The former Leicester City man had a long and arduous road back from the ACL injury he picked up in the 2025 pre-season, and watched on from the sidelines for much of last season, unable to help as his teammates were embroiled in a relegation battle.

Having waited so long to be back in the starting eleven, Maddison admitted that it was special to see his curled effort sail into the top corner, particularly against his boyhood club, with his family and friends watching.

When asked what it was like to be back in the eleven, James Maddison told Tottenham’s official website: “That was an amazing feeling. It’s been such a long time since I played from the start – Bodo Glimt here in the Europa League semi-final almost 18 months ago. So, a special feeling.

“I was a bit nervous before, especially with it being against Coventry. I had a box full of about 20 people today, all my friends and family, who I don’t think will be too happy with me because they’re all big Cov fans! But it was a special feeling and one I won’t forget.”

The Tottenham star also admitted that he was proud of the way the team bounced back after Coventry scored the equaliser at the start of the second period.

When asked if that was his best goal for Spurs, the 29-year-old said:

“That’s probably the best one so far, yes – so far. There’s more to come. Overall, we played some good stuff at times, and we struggled a little bit at times. It was quite tight in there. They’re really compact team away from home. I was just proud of how we went into the lead, they came back, and then that’s when we probably haven’t shown enough personality and discipline to carry on doing the right things when we have a bit of adversity, you know?

“They scored, but we kicked on again and got a foothold back in the game. Happy happy for Omar (Marmoush, made it 2-1) as well, scoring his first goal and then Ben (Davies, scored the third) to top it off. There were some nervy, edgy moments towards the end, but we were resilient. The home form obviously hasn’t been good enough, so that’s something that we need to… you need to have a little spark from somewhere. Sometimes it takes a result like that where you have to grind it out a little bit and be a little bit on the back foot towards the end. They feel just as good.”

Maddison admits Spurs fans played key role in helping team get over the line

The attacking midfielder also gave a special mention to the home fans for the way they rallied behind the team late on and helped them get over the line.

Maddison is hopeful that Tottenham’s first win of the league season has given the team a platform that they can now build on.

When asked what his overriding feeling was at the end, he said: “A bit of everything. There’s happiness, there’s a lot of emotion because it was my first start in 18 months and scored. Omar scored his first goal. Kulusevski coming back – I’m so, so happy for him because I’ve seen the journey he’s been on. So, there’s a lot of emotion and relief from Ben’s goal going in and that sigh of relief to get that little cushion. Coventry were pushing, they’re a great side. So, a bit of everything.

“Our fans are amazing because when we went behind and then we had a couple of attacks and I was trying to gee them up and they responded. I was giving it the raise of the arms to get them going and they responded, we got a bit of pressure and it led to the second goal. They were brilliant and hopefully that can kick-start a nice run for us.”

When asked about his own connection with the Spurs fan base, the England international responded: “The fans have shown so much love to me over the past 18 months when I haven’t been available to play, and that’s like… I just want to repay that. I know I’ve still got so much to give and the quality I have, I want to show to them. I want to show more and more. I’m only 29, I’ve still got many years left. So, yeah, hopefully I can repay that over the next however long.”