LONDON -- Kieran Trippier has admitted that his confidence was rocked by Tottenham's thrashing at Manchester City in December but insists he is a better player now, as he prepares for the biggest test of his career against Juventus.
No Spurs player impressed in the 4-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium but Trippier, a former City academy player, endured a nightmare afternoon against Leroy Sane, who ran inside him to set-up the third goal for Raheem Sterling.
Trippier's performance was so poor, he was dropped for the next two matches, with Serge Aurier starting twice within three days over Christmas. But the England international has recovered his form and his position, and his displays against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal were among his best for the club.
"I'm one of those guys who's honest," Trippier said. "It obviously wasn't the best day for me. City were unbelievable that day. When we looked back at it, we knew we had to move forward.
"It wasn't one of the best games I've had, I'm honest about that. But I've had a lot of games since then to build my confidence back up. I just watched the game back a couple of times and looked at where I went wrong. We spoke about it as players as well. You move on. Man City were on fire that day, they deserved to win, and you just move on and try to win games. That's how you build confidence.
"I made quite a few mistakes that day and you can only learn. I'm still quite young so I'm willing to learn from the manager or from players."
Spurs are unbeaten in 17 matches since the defeat at City and Trippier added: "Going into those games like the north London derby and United, you want to play because they're massive.
"You want to win, and we did. We got good results in them and it builds confidence and you move on, and just try to do your best every time you get the opportunity to play.
"Since I've been here I think I've matured as a player, and working for this manager, his man management is unbelievable. Obviously players have off days and I had an off day in that game.
"All you can do is just look back and learn from where you went wrong, what you could have done better, and that's what I did. It was good that I got the three games under my belt against United, Liverpool and Arsenal to build my momentum."
Asked if he was a better player for the experience at his former club, Trippier said: "Yes, of course. You go into those periods where sometimes you have a bad game and you learn from it.
"I had a bad game and I've learned from it. I've learned from my mistakes that I made in that game and I try to work hard on them as hard as I can, week in, week out on the training field.
"You can only get that confidence by playing games. I got a good run in the games. Every opportunity I get I just try to take and do my best for the team."
Trippier's form since the City game has nudged him ahead of Aurier, Spurs' other right-back, and the former Burnley player will definitely start Wednesday's round-of-16 secondd leg against Juventus because the Ivorian is suspended.
Trippier thrived off the competition with his friend and England teammate Kyle Walker, who joined City in the summer, and he says he has already established a similar relationship with the summer signing.
"Walks [Walker] and I had different abilities, and it's the same with Serge," he said. "You see the squad we've got here, it's a great young squad. There's not one bad person in this team.
"If you're playing or not playing, you just get on with things. If he plays or I play, like it was when Walks was here, we're always encouraging each here, we always want to do well. We want to do well as a team and individuals.
"There's no difference there. I played today and Serge was in the [WhatsApp] group messaging me good luck, and that's just how it is really."